No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948

By Mohsen KeianyCultural Identit y

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04 EDITORIAL - Heather Wells

05 KEYNOTE - Rabbi Jackie Tabick Humility, the quality of true leadership

07 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION - Helen Harrison Learning from Religion

08 POEM - Sr.Katharine Holstrom - Reflection

09 YOUTH INITIATIVE - Sean Rose and Pritpal Kaur Putting Faith into Action: Faiths Act

11 THEME - FAITH AND LEADERSHIP11 Sacred Script - Sirach

12 Nurturing a spiritual transformation - Barney Leith

14 Women and Leadership in Islam - Shiban Akbar

16 Leading by Example - Maureen Sier

17 CULTURAL INSIGHT Sarah Sheriff - Something of Beauty18 PILGRIMAGE - Simon Kenny - Honouring the Kami

20 LIFESTORY - Michael Wilson - God’s guiding hand

22 ART AND MEDITATION - Malcolm Dick on Mohsen Keiany - Mythical Legacy

24 INTERFAITH ENCOUNTER - Mary Braybrooke Elders - Revered or Redundant?

25 WOMEN’S INTERFAITH WORKSHOPS26 LANGUAGE OF ART - Seeds of Thought -

Art of Poetry - Conflict

28 REFLECTION - Dr Mukti Barton The Paradox of Love

30 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION - Children of Lomond School - Experiencing Sikh Generosity

32 BOOK REVIEW - Shuaib Karriem/Chris Chivers Fully Alive

32 WHAT’S ON - Inter Faith Week 2010

33 FEMININE AND THE DIVINE - Professor Ursula King - Gendering the Spirit: a silent revolution

34 INSIGHT - Meena Verma - Restoring “the broken”

36 POEM - Rebecca Irvine Bilkau - A Masterclass in Scholarship

37 COLOURS OF THE DIVINE37 Script - Hans Hoffman

38 Colours of Light - Umm Hanié Rebler

40 Colours of the Chakras - Caroline Jariwala/ Alena Pergl Wilson

41 FOCUS - Tariq Ramadan WHAT I BELIEVE

43 SUBSCRIPTION44 EDITORIAL NOTE45 MIND, BODY & SPIRIT - Michael Lewin A peaceful simplicity

46 CIRCLING THE WORLD - Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke Celebrating Difference Discovering Unity

47 BOOK REVIEW - Eleanor Nesbitt / Owen Cole Cole Sahib

48 RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM - Suzanne Rees Glanister Holiness and the Halo

50 FAITH & THE ARTIST - Judith Peacock Chasing a Chimera

Issue 23 publication date July 2010

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We thank all our contributors - writers, artists, poets and photographers – andof course subscribers. We also gratefully acknowledge the support of donors, who wishto remain anonymous. To sustain and develop the magazine however we need regularfinancial donations. If any readers know of Trust Funds, Grants or private donors who maybe willing to help with funding, however big or small, the Editor (Heather Wells) wouldappreciate your advice and/or recommendations. For contact details please see above.

THE SPIRALTHESPIRALTHESPIRA

LT

HESPIRALTHESP

IRAL

SPIRAL: “This is an ancientsymbol that reminds us ofthe womb and the protectivemothering nature in all of us.It takes us from the broadsweeps of the outer life to aninfinitely small centre wherewe cease to exist.”

The spiral logo was designed by Caroline Jariwala for Initiative Interfaith Trust

Cited: Mandalas: Spiritual Circles for Harmony & FulfilmentLaura J.Watts (2002) Pub.Hermes House, London ISBN 184308 973 7

It is Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday and this is her message to the world,

released exclusively by a friend and political ally, U Win Tin, to The

Independent newspaper on the 18th June 2010. It is a heart-rending

appeal that embodies within it decades of anxious yearning for justice for the

Burmese people. As the elected leader of Burma’s National League for

Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi is desperate, along with U Win Tin and other

members of NLD, to keep the eyes of the world focused on their fight for

democracy, as the oppressive ruling regime endeavours to squeeze the

breath of life out of the party and its people. Mary Robinson, former UN

High Commissioner for Human Rights, tells us in the same edition of the

newspaper that in meetings held by The Elders an empty chair is kept at the

discussion table for Aung San Suu Kyi: the chair is draped in Burmese silk as

a poignant reminder of her continued suffering, and also that of more than

2,100 other political prisoners in Burma. The number of prisoners – many of

whom will be monks and nuns arrested for taking part in the peaceful

protests of 2007 – is both shocking and alarming and is indicative of the

inability of the regime to tolerate any form of challenge to its hold on power.

I cannot help but fear for the future of Burma as a nation, with a leadership

that values domination over, rather than nurture of, its people. How will the

voice of reason ever penetrate the barriers of resistance! I have no answer,

but I am intrigued, at the mention by Mary Robinson of The Elders, a

promising title in religious circles. I am heartened to discover that it is a non-

political independent group of distinguished world leaders called together by

Nelson Mandela in July 2007 to offer their collective influence and

experience to support peace building world wide. Each member has had to

have earned international trust, demonstrated integrity and built up a

reputation for inclusive, progressive leadership. At last we have a global

initiative drawing on the wisdom of elders for guidance and leadership - and

they are calling for a UN-led international dialogue with the military junta of

Burma in an effort to bring peace to that fractured nation. Much of the work

of The Elders is behind the scenes challenging injustice and stimulating

dialogue and debate, and whilst the encounter with this regime will be a

difficult one in which its mindset will have to be profoundly changed,

we must maintain hope and pray for The Elders – of which Aung

San Suu Kyi is an Honorary Member – that they achieve their

goal and bring a much longed for liberty and justice to the

Burmese people.

Heather Wells

www.faithinitiative.co.uk

Initiative Interfaith TrustRegistered Charity No. 1113345

Trustees: Heather Wells, Lorna Douglas, Jonathan Lockhart

Object:The promotion of religious harmony by: Providingeducational resources and information to promote abetter awareness of the causes and consequences of inter-religious tensions and conflicts; and educating the public inthe diverse nature of religious belief.

Faith Initiative MagazineEditorial team – Editor: Heather WellsDeputy Editor & Design Consultant: Lorna DouglasOnn Keet Peng • Charanjit Ajit Singh Sr. Maureen Goodman • Shiban Akbar MatthewYoude

Poet in residence: Rebecca Irvine

Aim: The aim of Faith Initiative Magazine is to open windowson the beliefs and practices of world religions, in the hopethat this will foster understanding and reduce religiouslymotivated violence.

Statement: Whilst the contents of this magazine will alwaysbe in accordance with the ‘object’ of Initiative Interfaith Trustthere will be freedom of expression.

Invitation: We invite you to contribute articles, poems,letters, illustrations and responses so that the magazinereflects the religious communities it seeks to serve. Editorialguidance can be obtained from Heather Wells, PO Box110, Lancaster LA2 6GN Email: hf_wells@yahoo.co.uk

Issue 24 Themes:• Symbols of Faith• Faith & Social Justice

Front cover: Detail of Altar Frontal by Judith PeacockBack Cover: Poem by R.S. Thomas from ‘Frequencies’1978 Collected Poems 1945-1990 pub.J.M.Dent 1993Design & Print - Print Graphic Ltd T: (01228) 593900

“please use your libertyto promote ours”

Rabbi Jackie Tabick • KEYNOTE

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Who would want to be a leader? Just consider thewisdom behind this Yiddish saying: ‘Beware of theleader’s seat, it shifts’. This proverb exemplifies

much that is generally thought of in Judaism as an unenviableoccurrence, namely, that of having to assume any substantialleadership position. Indeed, in Jewish tradition we are taught thatthe ideal candidate for any high status post is one who expressessincere unwillingness for the job. Anyone too anxious to adoptsuch a task is already, so the Jewish sages have taught, liable to beunsuitable because of their ambitious nature and their lust forpower. Such a person, they aver, is unlikely to look after the needsof those whom they are called to rule, especially the vulnerable.

Certainly, the Bible is replete with examples of those who triedto avoid accepting such jobs. The prophet Isaiah complained hecould not fulfil a prophetic role because of his unclean lips, soGod remedied, according to Isaiah’s vision, by simply cleansingthem with burning coals. Or Jonah, ordered by God to bringabout the repentance of Nineveh’s inhabitants, who hired a boatgoing in the opposite direction and it took a trip inside a whaleto get him back on task. Or Moses, there was God speaking tohim out of a burning bush that miraculously was not consumed,but did that great sight persuade him to assume the leadershipof the Jewish people? No way! He argued with God every stepof the way claiming that he would not be able to get the wordsout in proper manner, but God just suggested he used hisbrother Aaron as a spokesperson.

In fact, by looking at the career of Moses we can perhaps bestunderstand what Judaism saw as the fundamental value that hadto underpin any leadership role. Apart from the obvious values ofcompassion, of understanding the needs of those being ruled, ofbeing able to inspire others and of courage to act in times ofadversity, above all, Moses was described as being a ‘humble man’and a ‘servant of God’. Almost counter-intuitively, Judaism seeshumility as a sine qua non of any leader. Now we usually think ofhumility in the way Dickens describes Uriah Heep’s cloyinghumility and obsequiousness in David Copperfield, all handwringing and claims of unworthiness to complete any task. Butactually, true humility, as practiced by Moses and advocated byJudaism is not like that at all.

In Judaism we are taught that being humble means that yes, wehave to recognise our personal limitations in a fair andconsidered manner, but it does not absolve us of the obligationto take responsibility for the roles that we are capable offulfilling. Indeed, we must recognise that all of us, at various pointsin our adult lives, have to take on leadership roles. Indeed, onmany occasions, multiple leadership roles at the same time.Sometimes as parents, guiding our children; sometimes at workwhen we teach others how to fulfil a task or have to runprojects; sometimes in our communities or in the political sphereor sometimes even when we are just out and about involved inthe daily tasks of shopping or travelling around.

Humility the quality of true leadership

KEYNOTE • Rabbi Jackie Tabick

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We are encouraged in the Jewish tradition to acceptresponsibility where we can be of help. Hillel, a first century sageused to teach, ‘Where there is no man, try to be a man’i, perhapsbetter translated today as ‘Where none take responsibility, try totake responsibility’. We are not allowed to turn our backs on theneed for leaders in society. I especially love a teaching I learnedfrom Rabbi Lionel Blue. He taught me that angels can be found allaround us, often in surprising places, unaware themselves of theirangelic status but bringing to us God’smessages on how we should beconducting ourselves. If you like, acting asleaders, telling us which way to go, whatto do with our lives.

But, and it is an important ‘but’, wehave to acknowledge that the entireuniverse was not created for our benefitalone. It is against the back drop ofeternity and the knowledge of thegreatness of God’s creation that we haveto place our needs and desires and themanner and the values that should guideus, especially when we assume the roleof leaders. True humility, as exemplifiedby Moses, is understanding that I as an individual, and especially asan individual with power, even if my power extends over just oneother individual, or over an entire nation, I need to rememberthat I am part of creation; I do not rule creation, God does. But Ido have responsibilities to that creation, to society because Jewishtradition demands that we work with God as partners in thework of creation. We believe absolutely that people are nevernearer to God then when we respond in love, justice andsympathy to the needs of others. And that often means taking onthe burdens of leadership.

This attitude is one that I try to always have before me in anyof the leadership roles that I find myself occupying during thecourse of any one day. It drives me to work to improve interfaithunderstanding. How can I claim that any of us can know theineffable God? God is so far beyond our human understanding, wecan just have glimpses of that Divine Being, and then only if we arelucky and if we study and meditate and try to do our bit forsociety and the environment. I need to be humble enough as aJewish leader to acknowledge that there are paths to God, andthat often I can learn to enhance my own religious life throughcontact with others of different faiths.

Again, mainstream Judaism has never encouraged thecontemplative route of some of the world religions. We havenever advised going to live in the desert, or locking ourselves

away from the world for the glory of God. What we do advocateis remembering that God is, and through seizing that awarenessto make that teaching and feeling the basis of our lives and use itto make the world a better place. The question in Judaism isalways, how can my spirituality help me face the world? How canit strengthen me so that, guided in true humility, I can turn tofulfilling the will of the creator of all life, succour the vulnerableand the needy so in that way come closer to my Creator. Can I

as a leader help bring about that greatMessianic future of social justice, ofpeace and plenty, of a healthy world, forwhich we pray.

Similarly, we are not a religion that hasspent artistic, spiritual and literary effortimagining what awaits us after death.Most Jews do believe in some sort ofafter life, but the details we leave up toGod. Our responsibility is to do the bestwe can while we are alive to make this abetter place for all to live.

Leadership is not a route to fame andglory and great riches…at least, it

shouldn’t be. As leaders we should seek to serve, with humility, insuch a way that we can help point the way to a better future forall. No wonder so few want to accept the role!

I need toremember that I

am part ofcreation; I do notrule creation,God does

Rabbi Jackie Tabick is Rabbi at North West Surrey Synagogue, Patron of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, on the Executive of

the Interfaith Network UK and Chair of the World Congress of Faiths.

i Ethics of the Fathers 2:6

Hillel used to teach:If I am not for myself,who will be for me?

If I am only for myself,what am I?

And if not now, when? Ethics of the Fathers

Helen Harrison • Religious education

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Lancashire SACRE [Standing Advisory Council of ReligiousEducation] believes in listening to young people. For thepast six years it has hosted a Youth Conference for pupils

from various phases. The 14 – 17 year olds told us they wantedto engage with 'real' religion and made a plea for authenticity, notalways found in text books. The 11- 13 year olds asked to tackle'the big questions – that teachers sometimes avoid'. Thus issuessuch as death, reconciliation, extremism, hope and justice must betackled to satisfy this need for addressing fundamental questionsthat life throws out. All the Youth Conferences have celebrateddifference while acknowledging and exploring, with faithmembers, the issues it creates. To achieve this authentic enquiryLancashire SACRE turns to a syllabus thatgenuinely engages with living religion and topartnerships with local faith groups.

Religious Education has great potential forcontributing in a very real way to communitycohesion. Lancashire SACRE recognises thispotential and has developed a syllabus overrecent years that makes a fundamentalcontribution to the development of skills andattitudes that encourage children to considerengaging with others in an open minded andempathetic manner. The Lancashire Agreed Syllabus for RE (2006)is based on a ‘Field of Enquiry’ model of learning. This model notonly transforms learning, but also the way teachers see theirrelationships with their pupils and, most importantly, thechildren’s perceptions of themselves as they learn about who theyare through trying to understand others. Whether it is afourteen-year-old considering if her friend is still the same personwhen she dons a bourkha or the challenging adolescent who hasa moment of self awareness as they change position in a humanbar graph while considering euthanasia. This model of RE can trulyhave the Heineken effect – reaching the parts that other areas ofthe curriculum miss (or rarely touch)!

The thinking behind the current Lancashire Syllabus wasdeveloped in the 1960s to make RE comprehensible andrelevant to student’s lives. This approach still remainsat the heart of the syllabus with the key question‘What does it mean to be human?’ at its centre.

All RE planning must balance the four areas of a Field of Enquiry’

l Beliefs and Values

l Living Religious Tradition

l Shared Human Experience

l Search for Personal Meaning

Thus, for example, not only do we learn that for manyChristians sacrifice is a central message from the Easter story,understanding that for people of belief, Jesus' death showed whatreal love for others is about, we also have the opportunity toreflect on what we might be prepared to sacrifice, for whom andwhy. Learning from religion is as important as learning aboutreligion in this model.

As with all subjects in the current curriculum, Lancashire's REseeks to develop skills and attitudes. To be fully roundedindividuals and responsible citizens pupils need to be able toquestion, analyse, assess, evaluate, empathise as well as developing

many other skills. When planning learningteachers also need to consider how to addressopen – mindedness, appreciation and wonder,respect for all and – possibly the mostchallenging – self awareness.

To help in their task of supporting effectivelearning through RE, Lancashire SACRE hasturned to two partner groups, local faithmembers and young people. The SACRE hastwelve Christian, five Muslim, two Hindu, a Sikh,Jewish and Buddhist representatives. We are

also pleased to have regular Bahai and Pagan observers attend[and contribute] and have welcomed input from local Humanists.This has proved to be a rich source of support when schools seekto understand the 'Living Religious Tradition' and ' Beliefs andValues' elements of the Field of Enquiry. SACRE RE networkgroups meet at places of worship, SACRE members come tomeetings, visits are arranged to schools and for schools to receivemembers of faith groups.

Learning from ReligionLancashire SACRE – Listening to the Authentic Voice of Faith

Whether it is afourteen-year-oldconsidering if herfriend is still the

same person whenshe dons abourkha...

Religious education• Helen Harrison

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Lancashire is blessed with many faith and inter faith groups.Building Bridges Burnley and Pendle have bothworked with the SACRE on a regular basis. ThePreston, Lancashire and North West Forum ofFaiths have all made effective links with SACRE.The Lancashire Forum of Faiths has developed ateam of faith visitors to go into schools orreceive school groups. Representatives from theSACRE have given training to members of thisgroup to enable them to support learning moreeffectively through understanding the syllabusand active learning techniques.

From the partnership with local faith groups the idea of a website to support both schools and faith groups was born.Lancashire SACRE has created a web site for local schools thathas received national recognition [www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/re]

and has now decided to develop a dedicated area that wouldsupport the linking of schools and faith groups. The Diversity,Inclusion, Faith and Achievement [DIFA] site will go live in theSummer term. Local faith groups and individuals have been askedto send contact details that will support teachers' planning forvisits and visitors to address the living religious tradition andbeliefs and values the syllabus requires. The site also providesnational and local links and materials to help both groups makethese invaluable opportunities for learning to be as rich aspossible.

How else does the SACRE respond to the pupils’ request forauthentic engagement? Our second Youth Conference in 2006suggested that a youth group be established for Lancashire toadvise the SACRE about effective and engaging RE. The pilotLancashire Youth SACRE was established in the east of theCounty and achieved through partnership with the Burnley andPendle Faith Centre. Students from 9 local High schools in theBurnley, Pendle, Hyndburn and Rossendale area gatheredtogether to explore diversity of faith through/and active learningideas. They worked with Gujarati Hindus, New KadampaBuddhists, Evangelical Christians and Sufi Muslim as well as pupilswith behavioural difficulties to create a conference for pupils withprofound learning needs. ' Special Hopes for the Future - Learningabout myself through learning from others’ gave young people theopportunity to identify and ask key questions of each other andthe faith communities. There was a strong multi sensory elementto the encounters, outcomes being expressed in various waysincluding dance and drama. Phase two of the Lancashire YouthSACRE was established in the Preston and Fylde region ofLancashire – they have already met at a Hindu Temple, Buddhistcentre and a Gurdwara. One participant commented afterencountering Hindu puja at a meeting, “I've just seen the greatbeauty and bringing together of religion, would my life bedifferent if I actually continued being a 'proper' Muslim like I wasat an early age?”.

Lancashire is a diverse and fascinating County. The LocalAuthority support for its SACRE is well known.Religious Education has a vital role to play in theeducation of our young people of all ages andoffers the potential for better understanding ofourselves and each other. However, this can onlybe truly effective through partnerships andengagement with real living religious communitiesand the beliefs at their heart.

Helen Harrison is Lancashire's Consultant forRE and Officer to Lancashire SACRE

Learning fromreligion is as

important as learningabout religion in this

model.

Upon my bedroom mirror, two photographs are stuck.

In Amnesty’s “Women’s Campaign” picture,

A solitary Rwandan woman, desolate but erect,

Surveys with dignity the devastation around her,

The destruction of her people a wilderness of suffering,

Yet not the annihilation of her hope?

In the second picture, cut from some newspaper,

Young Zairian boys regard me, serious,

Lined up for training…training to fight. So young!

Woman, boys, you are my sister, my little brothers:

In this mirror, I find you, and all at once

I find myself. Knit from the same flesh, we are one.

What difference can there be? Face to face, heart to heart,

We suffer, and in our suffering, are united. I greet you!

© Sr.Katharine Holstrom from Take This Day 2005

Pub. Limited Editions, Peterborough

Young Voices

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Sean Rose and Pritpal Kaur • youth initiative

Faith Act Fellows training in London: photo James Perrin

Putting Faith into Action:Faiths Act

Nadeem Javaid is a young Muslim man from EastLondon. His passion for fighting global poverty isrooted in his faith, which is a great inspiration to

him in working to help the poor, and empowering his owncommunity to be more engaged. He lovingly refers to theQuran, and explains how it is infused with the idea thatservice to other people is service to God.

Avi Smolen is a young Jewish man from New Jersey, USA.His passion for fighting global poverty also stems from hisfaith. He stands on a stage in front of an audience inWashington D.C. and explains how ‘tikkun olam’, the Hebrewnotion of ‘repairing the world’, is his inspiration for fightinginjustice.

And there are twenty-eight more. All young people fromcities across the UK, USA and Canada. All deeply inspired bytheir various faith traditions. All passionate about fighting theinjustice of global poverty. And – crucially – all willing towork together.

The concept which brings us together is the Faiths ActFellowship: the social action programme of the Tony BlairFaith Foundation, which is delivered in collaboration with theChicago-based Interfaith Youth Core. Last Summer all thirtyFellows learnt from and about each other in a trainingprogramme which spanned seven weeks and threecontinents, including time in various African countries. Ourtask after training? To work in interfaith pairs in cities acrossthe UK, USA and Canada to mobilise a grassroots youth-based movement against poverty.

Faiths Act - Globally

Faiths Act - Locally

We, (Pritpal Kaur, a Sikh from Leeds, and SeanRose, a Catholic from London), are two FaithsAct Fellows based at the Nishkam Centre in

Handsworth, Birmingham. The Centre acts as a hostorganisation and a base for our community work.

Sean Rose: “...I have always felt a strong call to justice. As aCatholic I am inspired by the Gospel message of spiritual andmaterial liberation. When I think about the people whom Jesusate with, talked to and stayed with, it seems clear that the peopleHe was serving were primarily those excluded from society insome way. His concern was with the last, the least, and the lost.

He preached His revolutionary message of freedom to thosewhom the world had shunned, who were excluded because ofdisease or family history, and who had few material possessions.This is a powerful example to me as a Christian of the way Ishould try to live in the world, and the attitude I should have

towards serving others.

Sometimes people ask me whether I have a ‘head’ faith or a‘heart’ faith: whether my belief stems from my reasonedunderstanding or experiential emotion. I prefer to say that mineis a faith understood through doing; through serving others andacting in the world. I have a ‘hands’ faith.”

Pritpal Kaur: “...The teaching in the Sikh faith of ‘Sarbat DaBhalla’ or the welfare of all, is what motivates my work. Savinglives through multi-faith action was exemplified by Bhai KanhaiyaJi, a Sikh water carrier who served water on the battlefield in1704. He served both the Sikh and enemy soldiers withoutdifferentiation, because he saw God’s spirit in everyone.Compassion is the bedrock of faith, and Bhai Kanhaiya Ji’sexercising of compassion in the spirit of Sarbat Da Bhalla is aninspiration to all who embark upon humanitarian work.”

Youn

g Voices

1010

youth initiative • Sean Rose and Pritpal Kaur

his year the Faiths Act Fellows have been working toraise awareness and resources in the fight againstmalaria. The disease is still one of the largest killers in

sub-Saharan Africa and remains a major problem in SouthAsia, Latin America and the Caribbean. There are over 300million cases per year, up to 1 million of which lead to death.Approximately 85% percent of all deaths are children underthe age of five – which is one child every 30 seconds.

Malaria costs Africa at least £8 billion annually through lostproductivity alone, and over 40% of all health expenditureacross the continent goes on treating the disease. But thereal scandal is that malaria is a completely preventable andtreatable disease. Interventions are simple and inexpensive –but hugely effective. Sleeping under a bednet can protect awhole family from malaria, since the mosquitoes carrying thedisease are most active between dusk and dawn. Malaria isalso entirely treatable if given appropriate and timely medicalcare.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreedby the United Nations in 2000 to give a clear framework forhalving extreme global poverty, with clear targets anddeadlines set for 2015. In 2010, with less than five yearsremaining, the international community is falling woefullyshort on meeting its obligations and none of the Goals areon track to be achieved. Faiths Act identified malaria as animmediate priority because we as a global community alreadyhave the knowledge, skills and resources to tackle the disease– which places upon humanity a great moral impetus to act.Tackling malaria has huge knock-on effects on achieving othergoals, including maternal health, child mortality, andeducation.

There are over four billion people of faith in the worldtoday, and Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) andcongregations have an unmatchable record ofcredibility, geographical reach, andsustainability. FBOs already provide anestimated 40% of all health services insub-Saharan Africa, with figures almost

double that (75%) in countries which have experiencedextreme instability and economic collapse. Faith-BasedOrganisations are critical players in the fight against malaria,thanks to their ability to educate people in their communitiesabout the causes and risks of the disease, and to inspire themto change their behaviour and protect themselves.

We have been raising awareness and funds in Birminghamfor this global fight against malaria. Our chosen charity isMalaria No More UK, which fights deaths from malaria acrosssub-Saharan Africa by providing mosquito nets, effectivemedicines, and targeted spraying. Malaria No More UKpartners with organisations in Africa such as Nets for Life andthe Center for Interfaith Action who actively involve peopleof faith in their programmes of prevention and treatment.

Our work has engaged a broad spectrum of Birmingham’sdiverse faith communities, schools, colleges, University faithsocieties, and congregations. The photos and blogs on ourwebsite www.FaithsActFellows.org/Birmingham paint avibrant picture of our community-based approach. Any fundsraised before the end of May 2010 will be doubled by the Rt.Hon. Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister and Patron andFounder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

As well as donating at www.justgiving.com/FaithsAct thecall is for all people of faith and goodwill to take initiative andact on their values. Whether you live in Birmingham or oneof the other cities in which Faiths Act Hubs are taking root,everyone can play their part in putting values into action.Together we can prove to the world that faith is a force forgood. Together we can show that Faiths Act.

For further information on Faiths Act, please seewww.FaithsActFellows.org/Birmingham or get in touch withus:

sean.rose@faithsactfellows.org

pritpal.kaur@faithsactfellows.org

Global Poverty - Why Malaria? 

Bednet in use: M.Hallahan,Sumitomo Chemical

Faith and Leadership

11

Sacred Script •Faith and leadership

Sirach 35:17 (Apocrypha) The Holy Bible

The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds...

12

Faith and leadership • Barney LeithFa

ith a

nd L

eadersh

ip Nurturing a spiritual transformation

When a friend introduces me as ‘a Bahá’í leader’ – or,worse, as ‘the Bahá’í leader’ – I feel compelled to correctwhat I take to be a misunderstanding about the nature ofleadership in the Bahá’í community. I’m sometimes eventempted to say that the Bahá’í community has no leaders.

Actually, that is not true. The Bahá’í community has leaders– elected and appointed – but they don’t function in the waythat people normally understand religious leadership tofunction. In fact, if you were to attend a Bahá’í gathering, youmight be hard put to identify the leaders. There are nospecial clothes, no sermons, no ritual, none of the things thatoften mark out religious leaders.

Nurturing & enabling

Perhaps the key to understanding about the Bahá’íapproach is the realisation that those who serve inleadership roles are there to nurture, encourage and bringforth the capacity of individuals, families and communities inservice to humanity.

Leadership in the Bahá’í community is not about power.Or to be more accurate, it is not about ‘power over’ - notabout the power to make other people do what the leaderwants them to do. It is, rather, about releasing the power inindividuals and communities to accomplish things.

Paul Lample, a member of the Universal House of Justice– the Bahá’í community’s elected global authority – explainsthat the purpose of the Bahá’í administration:

‘…is not to restrict but to release, harmonize and canalize thecreative powers of individuals to achieve focused, collective action.A positive expression of power is evident, therefore, in Bahá’ísocial relations…. In this perspective, the locus of power lies withthe individual, while authority lies with the Assemblies.’ i

Vision

Leadership, if it is not to be a means of indulging a desirefor power or prominence, has to be for a purpose. In thecase of the Bahá’í community the purpose is systematicallyto bring a vision to reality in a way that makes use ofeveryone’s talents and capacities.

The vision is set out in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, theFounder of the Bahá’í Faith.

‘All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancingcivilization.’ ii

‘Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new onespread out in its stead.’ iii

‘Know thou of a truth, these great oppressions that havebefallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the MostGreat Justice.’ iv

The vision is of a united world, underpinned by faith andjustice, in which there is a fundamental change ofconsciousness that leads us to understand

‘…that the time has come when each human being onearth must learn to accept responsibility for the welfare ofthe entire human family.’ v

The role of leadership – as exercised by the Bahá’íinstitutions – is to help individuals, families, communitieslearn how to make this vision a practical reality by takingsmall and sustained steps in their own homes and in theirneighbourhoods.

This is surely a matter of faith. There are setbacks, thereare mistakes - there is much to be learned! The institutionsand individuals with leadership roles in the Bahá’í communityare there to encourage, to plan, to coordinate, to gather andevaluate data, and to share the lessons learned from puttingprinciples into practice.

As Paul Lample explains:

‘Bahá’í practice, then, is concerned with translating theteachings of Bahá’u’lláh into action for individual andcollective transformation within the framework ofauthoritative guidance. The goal is the establishment of asocial order of unity, justice and peace, the Kingdom of Godon earth.’ vi

‘Understanding reality and transforming social reality inaccordance with the will of God requires unity of thoughtand action. This unity of thought and action is not auniformity that delimits or homogenizes the full range ofhuman diversity. It respects the inherent differences ofthought and opinion.’ vii

Accompaniment – key to a new culture

An important element in the processes that constitute theBahá’í community-building path and in the Bahá’í approachto leadership is epitomised by the word ‘accompaniment’.

To give just one example of how this works, Bahá’ís theworld over get together in small groups to study the Bahá’í

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Barney Leith • Faith and leadership

sacred texts and to develop skills that will enable them toundertake acts of service to their fellow human beings. Acrucial element of these study groups is the tutor. The tutoris not someone who knows all the answers, but assists theother members of the group to become active agents oftheir own learning. The tutor also accompanies groupmembers as they set out on the path of service, going withthem as they visit people in their homes or working withthem to conduct moral and spiritual education classes forchildren and young people.

There is no elite corps of ‘accompaniers’; everyone in thecommunity is encouraged to accompany others. Indeedevery Bahá'í (and those collaborating with the Bahá’ís) –whether serving in a formal leadership capacity or not – ischallenged to adopt a humble posture of learning in relationto every area of work, be it community building, social actionor contributing to the discourses of society

What is happening here is the development, in the wordsof the Universal House of Justice, of:

‘a culture which promotes a way of thinking, studying andacting, in which all consider themselves as treading a commonpath of service – supporting one another and advancing together,respectful of the knowledge that each one possesses at any givenmoment…’ viii

The practice of accompaniment might be considered aform of leadership, but it is a long way from traditionalconceptions of ‘leading from the back’ or ‘leading from thefront’. There’s no bureaucracy or charismatic individual topush or pull people into certain areas of action.

Leadership and young people

This approach of leadership by accompaniment is provingto be particularly effective in the work Bahá’ís around theworld are doing with the 11 to 14 year old age group, helpingthem to form a strong moral identity and empowering themto contribute to the well-being of their communities.

In its most recent letter to the Bahá’í community theUniversal House of Justice contrasts the widely held imageof the 11 to 14 year old age group (‘junior youth’) as‘problematic, lost in the throes of tumultuous physical andemotional change, unresponsive and self-consumed’ with theexperience of the Bahá’ís, who find in these young people ‘…altruism, an acute sense of justice, eagerness to learn aboutthe universe and a desire to contribute to the constructionof a better world.’ ix

This is not to deny the challenges involved in working withgroups of young teens, but older Bahá’í youth are providingleadership in this work as animators of groups of junioryouth in a programme that helps the younger ones sharpentheir spiritual perception, that enhances their powers of

expression and reinforces moral structures that will servethem throughout their lives.

‘At an age when burgeoning intellectual, spiritual and physicalpowers become accessible to them, they [the junior youth] arebeing given the tools needed to combat the forces that would robthem of their true identity as noble beings and to work for thecommon good.’ x

Leadership in a new key

A new kind of leadership is essential if we are to overcomethe passivity and lethargy that is all too prevalent in a societythat is busy ‘cultivating generations willing to be led bywhoever proves skilful at appealing to superficial emotions’.xi

Attempts to harness human energy through greed,domination, guilt and manipulation are signs of spiritualbankruptcy. The new pattern of leadership, rooted in spiritualtransformation, integrity, and accompaniment, fosters aculture in which learning is the mode of operation andinformed participation by growing numbers of people inbuilding a new civilisation is the standard by which we live.

Barney Leith is Director, Office of Public Information, Bahá’í community of the UK

i Paul Lample, Revelation and Social Reality: Learning to TranslateWhat is Written into Reality, West Palm Beach, FL.: PalabraPublications, 2009, p. 214.

ii Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,Wilmette, IL.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983, section XXVII.

iii ibid., section IV.

iv Bahá’u’lláh, cited by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day isCome, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1961, p. 4.

v Universal House of Justice, Turning Point: Selected Messages ofthe Universal House of Justice 1995–2006, West Palm Beach,FL.: Palabra Publications, 2006, p. 164.

vi Lample, Revelation and Social Reality, p. 47.

vii Lample, Revelation and Social Reality, p. 24.

viii From a message of the Universal House of Justice to theBahá’ís of the World, Ridván 2010.

ix From a message of the Universal House of Justice to theBahá’ís of the World, Ridván 2010.

x ibid.

xi ibid.

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Faith and leadership • Shiban Akbar

‘Fitrah’ has a specialplace in Islamic theology.The Noble Qur’an says:“This is the naturaldisposition Godinstilled in mankind . ..” (30:30).

One of the ways inwhich ‘fitrah’ could beunderstood is thathuman beings respondto their predisposed

inclinations or innate nature framed by God. If any womanhas leadership skills she will, given the right circumstance,bring forth her potential and find a relevant role for her. Whyshould Islam - the prescribed natural path of life be animpediment to women’s achievement?

The Lord answers them, saying: I will deny no manor woman among you the reward of their labours.Each is like the other. (The Qur’an, 3:195)

The language and content of Divine discourse in ‘TheQur’an’ are shaped to address women as subjects rather thanas objects. As per the ‘Shariah’ or Islamic Law a woman hasthe Right to Keep Her Own Identity. She has no obligationto take her husband’s surname but keep her maiden nameafter marriage if she so chooses. She has the Right toIndependent Ownership; the right of Participation in PublicAffairs and The Right of Election and Nomination to PoliticalOffices.

The Qur’an employs the term ‘Khilafah’ to mean everyhuman being is created as a vice-regent or a trustee toinherit the earth and fulfil duties and obligations befitting therole. Allah is the Sovereign of the universe and in relation toDivine sovereignty human beings are trustees. Nowhere inThe Qur’an is stated that only men were given this sacredtrust. As trustees women, like men, are bestowed with thebasic humanity and spirituality in equal measure and alsohave the same right to earthly privileges bestowed onhumanity. It follows thus that women are free to pursue theirgoals and lead progress and development.

To whomever, male or female, does good deedsand has faith, We shall give a good life and rewardthem according to the best of their actions. (TheQur’an, 16:97)

To talk of women leading progress and development, weinevitably think of gender segregation prescribed in Islam.Yes, gender segregation is there and for a good reason. It isthere to protect innocence, avoid temptations, and as asafeguard from personal abuse. But gender segregation does

not apply in public places and it does not apply in protectedenvironment. And in a professional context these days, withthe human resources policies and procedures firmly in placethere are safeguard measures in existence, e.g., against sexualharassment.

The Noble Qur’an has dedicated an entire chapter to Marymother of Jesus entitled ‘Maryam’ the Arabic name for Mary,proclaiming her most revered status.

‘The angels said to Maryam: "Maryam, Allah haschosen you and made you pure: He has truly chosenyou above all women...Allah gives you news of a Wordfrom Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, sonof Maryam, who will be held in honour in this worldand the next, who will be one of those brought near toAllah...” (The Qur’an, 3:42 and 3:45-47)

`Sayee’, the second ritual of Hajj or Pilgrimage to Makkahis a tribute to motherhood - a tribute accorded by noneother than our Creator. When Muslim pilgrims walkbetween the small hills of ‘Safa’ and ‘Marwa’ in Makkah wehonour Lady Hajera ra [Hagar], the younger of the twowives of Prophet Ibrahim [Abraham] pbuh. Wecommemorate her struggle, when all alone in a barren andhostile desert she ran between the two hills in search ofwater for her infant son Ismail [Ishmael] who was wailingfrom being parched and dehydrated. The ritual serves as aconstant reminder of the esteemed status of women. Isn’t itunfortunate therefore when the society fails to put intopractice the symbolism of the ritual in everyday life?

Through my study, I have no doubt in my mind, that mybeloved Prophet pbuh was the precursor of actual feminismin the history of the world, if we take feminism to meanequitable rights, wholesome emancipation and respect forwomen. There are many examples about the activities ofMuslim women from the early Islamic period (circa 1431years ago) that show that women were active in welfareactivities and in the public and intellectual life of the societyalongside men. Women openly debated with the NobleProphet pbuh and women publicly disagreed and correctedone of the Caliphs of Islam. The Prophet taught women alongwith the men, and instructed men to educate not only thewomen of their household but also their slave girls and freethem - it was a custom in those days to have slaves fromeither sexes. Women took part in the political affairs and inthe selection of Caliphs which was both a huge honour anda huge responsibility. How ironic it is then that at the presenttime Muslim women in UK do not even have easy access to,or a stake in, the running of the majority of their localMosques!

Women and Leadership in Islam

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Shiban Akbar • Faith and leadership

Responding to the demands and challenges of their timethe women in Prophet’s household demonstrated multi-tasking skills and played active public roles. Some examplesare cited here;

Lady Khadija ra the first wife of the Noble Prophet pbuhhas an honourable place in Islamic history. Influential in herown right she was the very first person to accept Islam andthus certify the Prophethood of Muhammad pbuh. In theMuslim psyche it was a tremendous honour for Lady Khadijato be thus chosen by God! Twice widowed before hermarriage to the Noble Prophet, Lady Khadija led anindependent life. She was a successful and smartbusinesswoman. She traded her caravan of goods to Yemenand Syria; she headhunted the best and the most dependablesalesmen and managers. And that is how the Noble Prophetwho was later to become her husband came to beemployed. As his wife (and fifteen years his senior), she washis confidante and counsel who dedicated her life and herwealth to the cause of Islam and in support of her husband’smission as the Messenger of God.

Their daughter Fatimah ra is known as `Khatoon-e-Jannah’the ‘First Lady of Paradise’ or the ‘Head of the women ofParadise’. When her mother died and her father (the NobleProphet) was left without his beloved wife of twenty-fiveyears it was Lady Fatimah who provided the support andcomfort to her Prophet-father and accompanied him in theearly years of his eventful mission on some importantjourneys. He has said of his beloved daughter: “Fatima is apart of me” and whenever he saw her approaching, he wouldstand up and accord her a very warm and affectionategreeting and sit her down next to him. Indeed, he cherishedall his four daughters. Herein is a lesson for Muslim fathers.

In a short-lived life of 29 years Lady Fatimah alongsidebeing a wife and mother to prominent Islamic personalitiesand public figures contributed to the development of thegrowing Muslim community of Madinah and coordinatedwelfare activities. She acted as a custodian to the poor anddestitute; she took women to perform humanitarian dutiesin the battlefield which included preparing food during a longand difficult siege of Muslims.

Later the Prophet remarried and his wife Lady Ayesha rawas known to be a feisty woman. Under the tutelage of theProphet she blossomed into a renowned scholar and afterhis death used to be consulted by the ‘Sahabas’/ Patriarchs inthe Muslim community. To this day she is regarded as a greatauthority on Islamic jurisprudence. The Noble Prophet’swives have the honourable title of ‘Umm-al-Momeneen’ or‘Mother of the Believers’.

Lady Zaynab ra is called the ‘Heroine of Karbala’. Herparents were Lady Fatimah and the last Caliph of Islam Ali ra.Had it not been for her, the martyrdom in Karbala of theNoble Prophet’s family that included her own brother(Prophet’s grandson) and her two sons, other family

members, including infants and companions, would have goneunrecorded in history. For me her outstanding heroism anddignity in the midst of tragedy and uncertainty, and in theface of extreme physical hardship and emotional torture; andher defiance coupled with restraint in the presence of hercaptors are instances of leadership and courage second tonone. She and fellow Muslim women and children weretaken captives and made to march to Damascus fromKarbala (now in Iraq). The two speeches she delivered in thepresence of the two ruthless assassins Ibn Ziyad in Kufa andYazid in Damascus stand tall for their eloquence, wisdom,fearlessness, moral strength and humanity. It was herpersuasive speech that saved the life of her young nephew.She was also an inspiring teacher in the exegesis of TheQur'an and used to address regular gatherings of women firstin Madinah and later in Damascus.

Rabia Basri ra was an 8th century female mystic born inBasra, Iraq. She was an enlightened teacher and in thehierarchy of Sufi Saints of Islam was one of the most notable.She occupies an equality of rank with men among the Saintsor ‘Friends of God’ [Auwliya]. She was both revered andenvied by her fellow male Saints for her formidablepersonality, gnosis, scholarship and philosophy. Sheintroduced the doctrine of Divine Love in Sufism stating thatwe should love God for God’s sake alone and not for fear ofhell fire or for a desire for paradise.

These elements in Islamic history and tradition shouldsuffice to reinforce the leadership roles and equality in ranksanctioned to women.

I would like to pay my personal tribute to my Mother whomade sure that I knew my place in the world. In many Muslimcommunities women are being denied the basic humandignity; the right to education, the right to develop theirpotential or the right to work.

The decline in status of Muslim women is a reflection ofthe tragic state our society has stooped to. The culturalbaggage is really breaking our collective shoulder, and havingan adverse effect on our society as a whole including theproblems we face with the youth today. Men should properlyregard their sisters in humanity and treat them as theirequals and challenge the weak men who hold them back.Also, the factors of war, the lack of a proper infrastructureand poverty in Muslim countries at the present time, meteout a raw deal to the womenfolk.

If we disregard women who constitute one half of theMuslim ‘Ummah’ (community) we cannot expect things torun a smooth course, and natural justice surely will comeback to haunt us! Since there are no theoretical barriers wemust overcome the externally imposed barriers and moveforward.

Article based on an Address given by Shiban at thelaunch of MINAB (Mosques and Imams National

Advisory Board) 10th May 2009

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Faith and leadership • Maureen Sier

Perhaps more than in any other field the leaders of faithcommunities are expected to lead by example. In theBahá'í community the leadership of Abdu'l-Bahá (son

of the founding prophet Bahá'u'lláh) is considered theperfect example of how to lead. There are hundreds ofstories of his exemplary life and leadership and little spaceto share them here but in the words of a Christian Minister,Reverend Howard Colby Ives, Abdu'l-Bahá lead not withpomp and ceremony but with humility and love:

There was never an assumption of authority, rather he wasever the personification of humility….. Abdu'l-Bahá made truthand love so beautiful and royal that the heart perforce didreverence. He showed by his voice, manner, bearing, smile,how I should be.

Leadership may well be as much about our way of beingand our attitude to others as it is about doing, althoughhaving said that, Abdu'l-Bahá’s life was a life of totaldedication to others and of service to humanity. Indeed on27 April 1920, he was awarded a knighthood (KBE) by theBritish Mandate of Palestine for his humanitarian effortsduring the 1st World War. Abdu'l-Bahá cared deeply for thepoor and oppressed and was loved by all who came incontact with him.

This type of leadership requires a deep commitment tomoral leadership. The Bahá'í International Community hassuggested that such moral leadership will need to becomethe leadership of the future, not just for clerics and leadersbut for all citizens, if a real transformation in human societyis to take place:

Moral leadership, the leadership of the future, will find itshighest expression in service to others and to the community asa whole. It will foster collective decision-making and collectiveaction and will be motivated by a commitment to justice,including the equality of women and men, and to the well-being of all humanity. Moral leadership will manifest itself inadherence to a single standard of conduct in both public andprivate life, for leaders and for citizens alike.(Bahá'í International Community, 1998 Feb 18, Valuing Spirituality in

Development)

The Bahá'í community is a religious community withoutclergy. It is a religion with an emphasis on group leadership,as opposed to individual power. The Bahá'í administrativesystem, has two branches: one composed of councils electedto govern; the other composed of individuals appointed toinspire and advise. In both of these systems the qualitieslooked for are the bedrock of moral leadership includingloyalty, devotion, a well-trained mind, recognized ability,mature experience and a desire to serve humanity.

However the nature of Bahá'í community life requires thatall Bahá'ís try to become moral leaders and this is not alwayseasy:

The vast majority of the Bahá'ís in the world today, are thefirst in their families to become Bahá'ís and the values andhabits they have been brought up with are not necessarily easyto shake. But by becoming Bahá'ís they commit themselves toa process of individual and social transformation, based on thefundamental reality of this age: the oneness of humanity’(Baha'i International Community, 1995 Aug 26, Status ofWomen in Bahá'í Community).

In April 2002 the supreme governing body of the Bahá'ícommunity, the Universal House of Justice, penned a letterdirected at the world’s religious leaders, in it they suggestthat: ‘the scriptures of all religions have always taught thebeliever to see in service to others not only a moral duty,but an avenue for the soul's own approach to God’.

One of the great needs of 21st Century global society isthe need for harmony and understanding between the greatworld religions. Perhaps it is in this arena more than any thatthe leaders of faith communities can make a huge impact. Byleaders from all faith communities engaging with each otherin friendship and fellowship they give a strong moral messageto all their followers to do likewise. This in itself has thepotential to help bring peace to our world. This will requirereligious leaders to work:

‘conscientiously and untiringly to exorcise religious bigotryand superstition from within their faith traditions. It willnecessitate that they embrace freedom of conscience for allpeople, including their own followers, and renounce claims toreligious exclusivity and finality. Until the religions of the worldrenounce fanaticism and work whole-heartedly to eliminate itfrom within their own ranks, peace and prosperity will provechimerical. Indeed, the responsibility for the plight of humanityrests, in large part, with the world's religious leaders. It is theywho must raise their voices to end the hatred, exclusivity,oppression of conscience, violations of human rights, denial ofequality, opposition to science, and glorification of materialism,violence and terrorism, which are perpetrated in the name ofreligious truth. Moreover, it is the followers of all religions whomust transform their own lives and take up the mantle ofsacrifice for and service to the well-being of others, and thuscontribute to the realization of the long-promised reign ofpeace and justice on earth.(from a statement to the World Summit on Sustainable Development by

the Bahá’í International Community, Johannesburg, South Africa,

August 26, 2002).

It is our wish and desire that every one of you may becomea source of all goodness unto men, and an example ofuprightness to mankind. Beware lest ye prefer yourselves aboveyour neighbors. ……. We love to see you at all times consortingin amity and concord …….and to inhale from your acts thefragrance of friendliness and unity, of loving-kindness andfellowship. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,

p. 315)

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Sarah Sheriff • cultural insight

Approximately six or so years ago, my colleague and I tooktwo groups of ESOL students (English for Speakers ofOther Languages) to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

As we stood in front of the V&A's imposing pediment whichlists all the countries from which artefacts in the museum werebrought - many of them the countries from which our studentshad come - we lamented that so many British people fail to realisethat the rich fabric that is British culture and values - of which weare so defensive - is in fact woven from warp and weft that is inlarge part foreign, and significantly Eastern/Islamic.

This fact was brought home powerfully morerecently, by Radio 4's programme: Morris and theMuslims produced by the documentary makerNavid Akhtar. The programme explored how thatquintessentially English Victorian artist, poet,interior designer and master craftsman, WilliamMorris, whose patterns on wallpapers, textiles andother furnishings came to be regarded asintrinsically English, was in fact inspired by Turkish ceramics andPersian carpets. The programme showed how his work helpedto create a new Movement in British design that was 'inextricablylinked' to Islamic Art.

The context of Morris's emergence on the art and politicalscene, conveyed through the programme, is important tounderstand - Morris had despaired of the problems caused bymass production at the height of the industrial revolution and hadbeen searching for alternatives. He was open to looking beyondthese shores for inspiration, and found it in the Muslim world - inhow it had succeeded in preserving the artistry of the craftsman:drawing on a veneration of nature and the sacred as the principlesubject of its art. Contributors to the radio programme made itclear that though no precise causal links are to be foundsuggesting Morris understood the religious significance of thepatterns in Islamic art, it was evident that he was inspired by theascetic beauty of these Islamic patterns. It is also apparent that hewanted to spread, and encourage amongst his fellow Britons, anappreciation for natural beauty and a valuation of the skills of thecraftsman who could produce such work. It was in no small partdue to him that there was a revival of the craft guilds in Britain.

The success of his innovation and the extent to which it wastaken to heart by Victorian Britain is to be seen everywhere: iron-work in Victoria station; on bridges crossing the River Thames;tile-work in some of our underground stations; theBritish enduring love of repeating floral patterns on interior

furnishings. Islamic-inspired British design culture is totallyembedded in Britain. The V&A itself, I was to learn, was createdspecifically by the Victorians to bring to the great artisticallyignorant British, the splendours and refinement of the East ingeneral and the Islamic world in particular.

The resonances between Islamic culture and William Morris’life, inspirations and concerns, as an artist and a citizen,were highlighted at many levels by Navid Akhtar who spoke withpeople such as Hasan Mohammed Ali of the Arts Council,

currently researching a book on William Morris tobe titled: 'Crossing the River of Fire'. SeeminglyMorris hated rampant consumption, an indulgencewarned against in the Qur'an, and sought to findbalance in life. He did not believe in 'art for art'ssake’, but echoed Islamic cultural teachings when hesaid ''Have nothing in your houses that you do notknow to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. This isnot to say that he viewed the process of producing

a art or craft a secular act - indeed, he believed that cultivatingsomething artistic was an act of purification for the soul, againechoing an ingrained Islamic principle embodied in a saying fromthe Qur’an: ‘God is beautiful and loves beauty’. Morris agonisedover how he could produce objects that were affordable as wellas beautiful because he believed that it was everybody's birthrightto own something of beauty. When he found this was notpossible, it brought him into the arena of the politics of art andfrom there into radicalised politics. Akhtar also spoke with artistTasleema Alam, whose work is featured in issue 22 of thismagazine, on how a new young generation of Muslim artists arerediscovering and fusing Islamic art and design principlesmediated by William Morris.

Certainly Morris would have approved of the multi-culturalismof contemporary Britain and would have had little sympathy, I feel,for the 'Little-Englander' mentality that I find dangerouslyprevalent in parts of the country today.

BeautySomething of

With grateful acknowledgement to the work of NavidAkhtar who produced and narrated the Radio 4 programmeMorris and the Muslims broadcast July 2009 Navid Akhtar isExec.Dir. of Gazelle Media

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Pilgrimage • Simon Kenny

Kawagoe is a large, provincial town that nestles on the Kantoplain, about 50 km north of Tokyo in Saitama prefecture. Ithas been described as ‘little Edo’, or small Tokyo. During the

Edo period, there was a lot of trade running though the town asmerchants travelled from Tokyo and into the mountains of thenorth, and Kawagoe was therefore heavily influenced by theculture of its larger neighbour. The Kawagoe festival (matsuri)uses many of the same rites and rituals of the major Tokyofestivals, but it has woven them into adistinctive style that incorporates the localfolklore and regional legends of Saitama.

As one of the most famous festivals inJapan, the Kawagoe matsuri brings manypeople together from all over the Kantoarea. During the matsuri ancient religiousrites are re-enacted, and integrated withmodern style festival celebrations for theautumn harvest. The atmosphere is alwaysvibrant, and the excitement feverish aspeople see the tall dashi towersapproaching them as they are pulled downthe streets. These dashi towers contain thekami (gods of nature), to behold them and celebrate their passagethrough the streets is believed to bring good fortune to all thepeople of the town.

Japan is a country that is well known for combining the ancientwith the modern. Old style houses and temples are often to beseen at the side of large concrete buildings and skyscrapers. Citieswill usually have shrines located next to shopping arcades, andwithin major metropolitan hubs that buzz with gadgets, flashingTV screens and the rush of blurred bodies. This interaction of theold with the new is at the heart of life in modern Japan.

At the local level, festivals serve to bridge the gap between pasttraditions and the busy life of modern Japanese workers. Theyhelp to keep people in touch with their culture, and to participatein rituals and rites of passage that incorporate many importantthemes such as the veneration of the gods, the purification ofmind and body, and the promotion of harmony amongst allpeople.

The day of the festival is a special day, as it is the day when thekami are believed to descend from theheavens, and enter the sacred shrine(mikoshi). The mikoshi at this time is alivewith the power and energy of the spirits. It isa sacred vessel that contains the kami. Asinvisible spirits they do not have anycorporeal form, and are not worshippedthrough religious images or on any altars. TheJapanese view of the kami is that they are allaround us, within nature. They are of nature,and exist as part of it in the rivers, mountainsand sky. The mountain or river is the kami,and all nature contains spiritual vibrationsthat can manifest as kami. The day when they

reveal themselves within the shrine is then a blessing for thetown, and a time to honour them and reinforce the need forhuman recognition and remembrance of the gods.

The festival is always lively and upbeat though, rather thansomber. On the day of the festival, the mikoshi will be housed inthe dashi. These dashi towers are up to seven metres high, and aredecorated with colourful decorations of symbols such as spears,ocean waves, and mountains, as well as depictions of variousanimals and human beings. Each district will have its own dashitower, and the pictures that adorn it will often celebrate a famouslocal legend or folk tale.

The Kawagoe Matsuri:

festivals serve tobridge the gapbetween past

traditions and thebusy life of modernJapanese workers

HONOURING THE KAMI

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Simon Kenny • Pilgrimage

Each year the dashi are preserved and reused for the nextfestival, with a little rebuilding if necessary. The musicians anddancers will practice all year in preparation for performing on thedashi float in the autumn festivals. The musical performances, andthe acts of singing and responding to other dashi are highlyritualised, and acted out in accordance with distinct norms thatdefine how the musicians perform during the raucous festivities -they are the calm within the storm, and representative of thehigher order that is in touch with and yet distinct from the humanworld of instability and emotion.

The dashi towers are mobile in that theycan be turned and rotated in order to facethe crowd or an opposing dashi. Thisfacilitates a dynamic relationship with thepeople, as the flow of energy between thecrowd and the dashi is palpable; for this isthe day when the kami have entered thecorporeal world of form, and the spectacleof their procession through the town issomething that should be witnessed andexperienced through a direct encounterwith the kami. The form of the kami is seen(shirushi), and it is a sign from the gods thatthe natural order within the universe is being maintained, and thatproper respect is being given.

The people have an integral part to play in the festival asonlookers have the chance to cheer and shout for their favouritedashi in the battle of song. Each dashi tower holds a magical being,accompanied by various musicians. The magical being is amessenger of the gods, and is housed at the top of the dashi inorder to be observed by all. The most common instruments to beplayed for the festival music (ohayashi) are the drum (taiko) andthe Japanese flute (fue). The musicians will play a constant beatand rhythm, and whenever two dashi should meet each other,there is a musical battle. The magical beings will gesture and shoutat each other, and attempt to win over the crowd, and defeattheir opponent. The aim is to outlast the opponent, and even putthem off their musical rhythm. Drums will roll, shouts and crieswill reverberate through the air, notes of a flute will float aroundthe onlookers, and the dashi will continue their musical melee in

the heart of the masses. The cheering crowd will choose thevictorious side. After some time, in an unspoken agreement, theloser of the battle will pull away from the victor, and move offdown the street.

The symbolism of this encounter has multiple meanings: at thepopular level, the floats are built to show off the beauty andworkmanship of the craftsmen; while at the mythical level, theportable shrines are symbols of power, and denote the ability ofthe victorious kami to overcome all obstacles – the use of music

and song expressing a natural harmony andrhythm that cannot be suppressed by anyoutside force. The dynamic battle betweenthe dashi is an expression of manifestenergy, and a time to witness the longdormant forces of nature. This is themoment when the kami are among humansagain, and eager to show off their latentpotencies and divine potentialities.

The worship of the kami is defined by theseasons, as Japan is a country that movesvery much with the seasons even now. Theyear is structured around such events as thecherry blossoms blooming in spring, and the

summer Bon festival (the ancient Buddhist ritual for the dead), aswell as the lunar cycle that brings around the seasonal festivalseach year. The cultivation of rice, and the celebration of theautumn harvest has a long association with veneration for thekami, and the rites and rituals of the matsuri allow people toworship together, give thanks for the bountiful gifts of the gods,and appreciate their innate power.

In the culture of consumerism that seems so rampant inmodern society all over the world, the chance to participate in afestival is a timely reminder of ancient ways and beliefs that stillmay have something to tell us yet. The experience of seeing themikoshi amongst the crowds can allow the people to connect tohigher forces, as the sacred erupts through song and sound, andreverberates through the profane world of time and space. Thisexpression of natural power is a testament to a life not yetforgotten, and a message of hope that continues to be retoldthroughout the ages.

for this is the daywhen the kami

have entered thecorporeal world of

form

LIFESTORY • Michael Wilson

20

Iwas born in 1928, and my earliest memories encompass mymaternal grandparents and my mother and father, all fineupstanding people who gave me a wonderful childhood but

sadly those memories do not include a united home. My parentswere separated before my memory began. I was blessed withwonderful school teachers in my prep school – on reflection Ithink they realised this rather timid little boy needed ‘tenderloving care’ and they gave it. I especially loved my scripture andgeography lessons, both of which influenced my life course.

My first clear memory of guiding signposts for life was GeorgeVI's Christmas broadcast in the dark early days of World War II.The faltering, courageous voice (he had a stammer) telling hispeople to follow the guidance in Molly Haskin's poem:

I have quoted this to myself at many times of uncertainty since.

I took to long solitary walks in the country, both at school andin the holidays often in Scotland, walking for hours over themoors and hills. There was nothing lonely orsad about these walks – I found I couldcommune with God, and glean strength fromHim. At school I used to go far out over theDowns on Sundays and it was there that Iasked God to come into my life and guide me.He did!

When the time came for me to leave schoolI opted for the Navy and spent a couple ofyears on the lower deck. This experience wasinvaluable in forming my character. In parallelof course all my generation reached adulthood with prettystrong feelings about Germans and Japanese, especially as horrificstories emerged from Belsen Concentration Camp in Germanyand Changi Prison in Singapore.

The Navy was followed by Oxford where I studied Geology.On leaving Oxford I was advised to enter the world ofcommerce and I joined J & P Coats, thinking that would enableme to see the world. It did! I spent 25 years in Latin America.First I was sent to Havana to continue my training where afterthe austerity and rationing in Britain, life, even on a shoestringbudget, was delightful. Fidel Castro was active, and one could seehow the unrest was building closer and closer to the surface.Iwas then posted to Columbia, to Pereira, a hill town 5000’ up inthe Andes. There followed 2½ years of high adventure, recruitingand training staff, setting up systems and visiting customers.

Life in the hotel where Iwas billeted was not verysatisfactory (cockroaches inmy fried egg etc) so I scannedthe small foreign communityfor flat mates. I set up housewith a German, a Swiss and aColombian. This proved to bea wonderful development andwe were very happy. For meit was a salutary experience. Dieter, the German, became a veryfirm friend (he had been in the Hitler Youth in the AA batteriesdefending Berlin). Before long I was questioning why ourpoliticians could create wars that would oblige Dieter and me totry and kill each other!

Colombia was in the throes of "la violencia", civil war, in whichthe official death toll was 250,000. One night I was workingalone in the mill (almost 500m outside the town) when a volleyof shots rang out. I left, hurriedly unlocking the gate and leapinginto my car. Next day a body riddled with bullets was foundbeside the gate! In those days most people in Pereira carriedmachetes and not infrequently used them to settle arguments.

Work was very hard with so much trainingto do but most nights on my way home I wouldstop the car and cross a meadow to the edgeof a forest and as the dusk fell say my prayers,with dozens of fireflies dancing in the duskaround me. Magic! Church was a problem butI used to attend Mass (Latin) in the cathedralsometimes. When there was a long weekend Iused to venture into the foothills and higherparts of the Andes for 2 or 3 days, oftenaccompanied by Dieter and one or two others.We reached 15000-17000' quite often, using

mules borrowed from a Colombian friend. Locally, I becameknown as Miguel del Monte – Michael of the Mountain.

The time came for me to move on so I wended my wayhomewards via Inca civilisations in Peru and down the Amazonfrom Iquitos (some 2000 miles from the Atlantic) taking most ofmy leave to reach UK where I was to be based for a couple ofyears.

By this time, as a 29 year old, you will guess I had begun toyearn for a wife. Indeed my prayers were probably indecently fullof this. For many months I worked in head office in Glasgow butfound no one. Then in His own good time God took a hand.One February Friday I was summoned – "Wilson I am sackingthe Manager of Manchester region, you are to go and take overby Monday lunchtime while we find and train a successor."

God’s guiding hand

on my way home Iwould stop the car andcross a meadow to theedge of a forest and as

the dusk fell say myprayers, with dozens offireflies dancing in the

dusk around me.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me alight that I may tread safely into the unknown.

And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put thine hand intothe hand of God.

That shall be to thee better than light and safer than a known way.

Michael Wilson • LIFESTORY

21

Down I went, the Manchester fog was dense. Meantime theGood Lord created a fault in the phone of my mother'sneighbour. This lady happened to be the aunt of a young ladywho lived in Cheshire, who had also been longing for a mate. Theyoung lady, Rosemary, and I met on February 12th 1958 and hadhalf a dozen dates during which we discovered we had so muchin common. As I returned to Glasgow, looking forward to a longand leisurely courtship. Imagine my horror to being sent for aweek later and told “you’re off to Chile next week – you'll bethere for 3 years". With great courage Rosemary agreed tobecome my wife on Easter Sunday 1958 only a day after I met herparents for the first time. We were married at Holy TrinityChurch, Brompton, London, and after one week's honeymoon offI went, to be followed 10 weeks later by my wife. I have told thisstory at some length because God does answer prayers and hasa lovely sense of humour!

Chile came up to my expectations and we both developed adeep affection for the country and its people.

We started a family and just before our first little boy arrivedour puppy "too young to have a rabies jag" developed rabies.Fourteen jags deep into the tummy the remedy in those days –and you had to wait 3 months to know if you were safe. Wedecided not to tell our families but God and our friends in Chilekept us wonderfully supported.

In 1967 we were transferred to Brazil where I was to takecharge of Marketing and Sales in this vast country. Here again wewere blessed with a wonderfully supportive Christiancommunity, and we needed support as someone put a"macumba" (black magic) spell on us manifested by veryunpleasant happenings. Space doesn't permit me to go into muchdetail. Suffice it to say we, and our home, had to be exorcised bythe Anglican Bishop. We were advised also to be cleansed in thelocal way by an "umbandista", a faith healer who in a tranceconfirmed we had all been severely cursed. (The woman whoplaced the curse on us later confessed, jealousy the root cause.)Year’s later when we had returned home, by one of thoseserendipitous moments, when attending chapel at our boys'school, it so happened that the preacher was the exorcist for theBishop of London. We knew a young man who we were sure hadbeen cursed in Brazil and I was able to take him for a session tothis wonderful priest. After long and painstaking questioning weadjourned to the church and the exorcism took place. The devilwithin turned out to be of Brazilian origin and the struggle thatensued was horrific. After it was successfully over the priestasked if he could check me. He reported "you are fine now butthere is a noticeable scar from a previous curse from which youhave been cleansed". Our young friend, who had tried to killhimself on various occasions, is now much better.

We returned home in 1979 to work from our head officein Glasgow. In my case, my job entailed a lot of overseastravel; in one period I worked in 26 countries in 2 yearsand inevitably, my health crumbled and I had to retire abit early. One day when I had just said goodbye to my

sister who was dying and I was uneasy about my own health, thetrain stopped beside a poster which read "Do not let your heartsbe troubled, Trust in God, trust also in me”. – John 14 v 1.

In 2001 my heart began to falter, and became increasinglytroublesome until in 2008 things looked bleak. Here again theGood Lord stepped in, a slot was created and a long operationensued, resulting in a replacement valve being inserted by abrilliant surgeon who reported "ten years ago we couldn't havesaved you and two weeks later would have been too late". I gothome 2 days before our Golden Wedding. I must mention that Iknow I was sustained by a twelve-hour wave of prayer offeredup by a team of Christian friends. In addition members of mystaff in Chile (from 50 years ago) have been arranging masses forme, for Rosemary who has cancer, and for 2 of our children whohave lost their jobs. My links with Cuban, Colombian and Chileanfriends from half a century ago have remained firm and wetreasure them deeply. My story would not be complete withoutmentioning the fact that through a venerable aunt we wereintroduced to the Scottish arm of the growing ChristianMeditation movement. Our involvement with these specialpeople has been a source of strength and support that wetreasure greatly.

A closing word, the past couple of years have been blightedwith some deeply worrying family crises such as many familieshave to confront. Just last week when Rosemary and I werediscussing one of these problems a most beautiful rainbowappeared – the most vibrant I have ever seen. It only lasted acouple of minutes but the message was clear "All will be well"and it will be.

God has accompanied us on our pilgrimage through life and weare deeply grateful.

My eventide wish: That the world's great religions would realisehow much they have in common and work together to defendthe world and its environment, its people, their faiths and theirprinciples, from the forces of evil which seem to be rampant.

"Lo I am with you always."

Psalm 91v2

Matt. 28 v 20

"The Lord is my refuge and myfortress, my God, in him will I trust."

22

Art and meditation • Malcolm Dick on Mohsen Keiany

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tse said: ‘the wise prefer non-doing (meditation) and live in quietness. Everything happensaround such a person as if by itself. He is not attached to

anything in the Earth. He does not own anything made by him. He isnot proud about his work.’

For Mohsen Keiany painting is a form of meditation. He neverplans, designs or makes sketches for his paintings. He createstextures and then he sits in front of the canvas for hours,uncovering different elements such as trees, rocky landscapes,animals and human figures.

His characters who wear traditional Persian dress, often ridehorses, play music and participate in ceremonies, dances andother social gatherings. Their facial expressions reveal strongemotions. They look sad, even though they might be thinking andmeditating cheerfully. His art is rhythmic: the observer’s gazemoves from one object to another as it travels to all parts of apainting. The music of Persian instruments combines with thesounds of horses and goats that run across a painting.

The bright colours remind us of tiles and stained-glass windowsin Persian architecture. The warm colours represent the sunnyclimate of Iran. Ancient references are inspired by Mirlic, Seyalcand Lurestan archaeological sites. Recently he has scored poemsby Hafez into the surface of his paintings, which demonstrates hisloyalty to this great Persian poet.

The Persian philosophical approach can be seen in traditionalPersian miniature paintings and this is the most importantinspirational component of Mohsen’s art – a mythical legacy fromthe past. His art introduces a different way of understandingtraditional Persian philosophy that compares with other modernrepresentations in the arts, including Iranian cinema.

A necessary part of his work is to represent the Creator as themost delicate form of consciousness in the universe. Mohsen’s artevokes spirituality as a means of leading people to God andultimately towards perfection. ‘Spiritual’ can be defined as thatwhich expresses the numinous and evokes attraction and awe.Spirituality is a feeling we gain when we face an aspect of thedivine, an overwhelming consciousness, which may not be overtlyreligious.

Persian paintings by Mohsen Keiany

Mythical Legacy

Spiritual Gathering oil on canvas www.mohsenkeiany.com

Art and meditation • Malcolm Dick on Mohsen Keiany

23

For Mohsen paintingis a form of meditation.

Tabbarok (blessing) oil on canvas

Ava and Nava oil on canvas

Neyestan oil on canvas

Neda oil on canvas

24

interfaith encounter • Mary Braybrooke

This seminar was an interactive discussion with people,especially chaplains from many faith traditions anddifferent parts of the world. The topics were wide-ranging

and personal: I talked of my work supporting kidney patients asthey make decisions in whether to choose dialysis, transplantationor withdrawal from dialysis followed by palliative care. There washowever some resistance when I raised the issue of assistedsuicide and death and dying.

Here I reflect on comments, perceptions and observationsmade by participants on the process of ageing and the place ofolder people in today’s world.

It has been said that nothing is more certain than death ortaxation. Now many have a third certainty - the gift of growingold. Life expectancy in the U.K. in 1900 was 48 for men and 52for women: based on statistics drawn from mortality rates in2006-2008 a girl child born today has a life expectancy of 81.6 anda boy child 77.4.

A recent U.S. Central Bureau report shows that ‘As we movethrough the first decade of the 21st century, population ageinghas emerged as a major demographic worldwide trend’.

Examples are : 65+ as % of population

2010 2040

Australia 13.9 23.6

Brazil 6.8 17.5

China 8.3 22.6

U.K. 16.4 25.1

U.S.A. 13.0 20.4

India 5.4 13.2

As individuals and members of a society, we all have ambivalentfeelings about old age and can ourselves be ageist, thinking wehardly matter in a changing society. We may dislike getting older,fear mortality, dread the loss of bodily functions, and dislike ourphysical appearance. We may worry about scarce resources andfeel “we have had our day”. Moreover, older people may senseothers’ contempt for the vulnerable; they are treated like childrenand frightened to stand up for themselves.

All religions however teach respect for elders and their wisdomis revered and treasured. Religions also expect children to carefor their parents and people from traditional societies are oftenshocked that in the West elders are ‘put in a home’. The mobility

of the modern global society, however, is forcing change uponmany communities. How do you care for parents if they live inanother continent? Should a woman give up her job - vital for thefamily budget - to care for her invalid father-in-law?

Yet a civilisation should be judged by how it cares for its frailermembers. There are many unsung examples of saintly relationscaring day in and day out for sick and older family members -saving the state billions of pounds. People in their seventies arecaring for people in their nineties.

But Carers themselves need support. Confusion and anger inpartners or children coping with dementia, change of personality,and other illnesses is understandable. Professional help willprobably be needed to try and overcome some of the problems.After sleepless nights and with little thanks from the changedloved-one, it is hard to feel compassion.

The Churches, the Jewish community and now other faithcommunities provide many care homes. But what provision ismade for the social and spiritual needs of older people generally?Spiritually in our declining years we are said to grow nearer toGod and wiser through experience and long living. We hope tohelp others on their way - but how many younger people want tobe told what to do! I have met many older people who feelredundant and undervalued by society, especially those inresidential and nursing homes, and there are reports of illtreatment of some in their own homes, in hospitals, and inresidential care.

So how does each society and culture treat its older people?This varies everywhere and no society is static. More mobilitymeans changes in family life so that there is need forcommunities, especially faith groups, to provide what close-knitfamilies did automatically. Many who live alone long for someoneto listen to their story. Our world is a consumer/customer place,valuing high earners and emphasising ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’.The true values, that all faiths stress, such as love, compassion,patience, peacefulness, gentleness, and loving God and ourneighbour as ourselves are often forgotten.

Elders - Revered or Redundant?A Seminar at the Parliament of the Worlds Religions.Melbourne December 2009

Psalm 71. v9 Cast me not in the time of my old age; when mystrength fails forsake me not.

Mary Braybrooke • interfaith encounter

25

Beatitudes from an old personBlessed are those who understand my faltering stepsand palsied hand Blessed are those who know my ears today must strainto catch the things they say Blessed are those who seem to know that my eyes aredim and wits are slow Blessed are those who looked away when coffee spiltat the table Blessed are those who never say. You’ve told that storytwice today Blessed are they who know the way to bring backmemories of yesterday Blessed are those who know I’m at a loss to find thestrength to carry the cross Blessed are those who ease the days on my journeyhome in loving ways.

Anon

The Qu’ran says Be kind to your parents…say not to them a word

of contempt.i

The Bible says, ‘You shall rise up before the grey head and honour

the face of the elderly.’ ii

A Buddhist text says ‘We may carry our mothers on one shoulder

and our fathers on the other, and attend to them even for a

hundred years, doing them bodily services in every possible way …

still the favour we have received from our parents will be far from

requited.’ iii

Hindus take for granted that elderly family members are cared for

by their family.iv

The Jewish community has produced a resource guide for

congregations on “Sacred Ageing. To Honour and Respect”

i Qur’an 17, 23-4. Quotations are taken from Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions, ed. Peggy Morgan and Clive Lawton, Edinburgh University Press, 1996. iiLeviticus 19, 32. iiiAnguttara Nikya , vol 1,. Sectio0n 61-2. ivWerner Menski in Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions p. 30.

Biblography Valuing Age James Woodward SPCK 2008m To Honor and Respect Richard F. Address and Andrew Roenkranz 2005 1000 World Prayers Marcus Braybrooke 2003

WOMEN’S INTERFAITH WORKSHOPS

There is no separation between the spiritual, practical andemotional. All aspects of our lives are interlinked. Old Age maybe a time to ‘be’ rather than to ‘do’. Erik Erikson said that thiscannot happen until we accept what he calls ‘the unalterabilty ofthe past and the unknowability of the future’i.

When death appears to be near, the older person, like allpeople, often wants to search for final meaning, to find intimacy

with God, to overcome the difficulties of disability, pain and lossand to find hope. May they have wise and loving companions withthem at this time.

Perhaps most important, may they share the hope of mostpeople of faith that death is not the end, but a gateway to newlife.

i E.Erikson The Life Cycle Completed 1982 W.W.Norton NY.

Organised by Initiative Interfaith Trust and funded by a ‘Faiths in Action’ Grant.

The aim of the workshops is to empower women in thecommunity of Hounslow to bring about positive change in inter-religious relations and create interfaith friendships.

We are delighted to report that in our third Workshop, held onthe 25th April 2010 in Hounslow, members of the group formeda Steering Circle that will support the vision of its members tobecome a ‘Women’s Interfaith Group’ with the following aims:

• To bring women together of different faiths; to help them gainthe confidence and skills in reaching out to different cultures andfaiths.• To share knowledge of faiths.• To recognise the divine in the feminine.• To celebrate women’s contributions to community/faith-basedissues.

• To provide opportunities for self-development for local women.

• To raise awareness about religions by visiting different places ofworship.

• To build bridges where there are divisions between faith groups. • To raise interfaith awareness through education and training.• To support and encourage intergenerational learning ofinterfaith issues.The progress of the women of Hounslow, in their desire for

change, will be nurtured locally by Charanjit Ajit Singh andHarbans Kaur who are working in partnership with EmmaWinthrop – Workshop Facilitator – and Heather Wells and LornaDouglas of Initiative Interfaith Trust.

Please pray for all the women as they courageouslyaccept the challenges ahead in the creation of a newmovement for positive change.

Heather Wells

WORKSHOP 1 11/10/09 WORKSHOP 2 16/11/09 WORKSHOP 3 25/4/10

LANGUAGE OF ART • Seeds of Thought

26

SEEDS OF THOUGHT:Art of Poetry – Conflict

INTRODUCTION

ARTISTS / POETS COMMENTS

Seeds of Thought is a non-funded group that aims to promote thesharing of cultures through poetry, art and music. The group wasstarted by 3 people in 2006; Ernest and Tawona Sithole, brothers

from Zimbabwe, and close friend Tarneem Al Mousawi from Bahrain. It’snot intentionally a multi-cultural group, but defaults as such due to thebackground of the founders and members. The ethos of the group is thateveryone’s voice deserves to be heard – a seed to plant and we help eachother in tending to the seeds. The group is open to all adults and is free.We have a writing group that meets fortnightly at St Mungo Museum ofReligious Life and Art, and we host a monthly performance evening at theCentre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow.

Seeds of Thought challenged their members to create an original‘illustrated poem’ to explore individual interpretations of conflict.

Conflict takes many forms from personal turmoil, to not seeing eye-to-eye with one another. It can alsobe more sinister, precipitating war between nations. The natural world is filled with confliction, the fight forspace between plants, animals and humans; land mass competing with water in receding shorelines;devastation of landslides, floods and earthquakes.

The group have varying capabilities and this exhibition posed a challenge to some by making them stepout of their comfort zone. The hard work shown by each member, in the creation of their pieces (solo orcollaborative), is a testimony to the philosophy of the group – it is more significant for people to expressthemselves than worrying about perceived brilliance or expertise. This exhibition was made possiblethrough support from St. Mungo’s. Members provided their own materials, and the museum staff framedand hung the work using their own resources. This is the second such project following on from the ‘Artof Poetry’ exhibition that ran from 2008-2009.

Tawona Sithole - Haunting Hunting Creating a piece of visual art was both challenging and exciting, as

I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I was fortunate to haveTarneem as personal mentor and I enjoyed meeting the challenge,igniting a thirst for art. As someone who grew up in a family wherecreativity is shared and encouraged, I have learned to appreciate theimportance of self-expression. I think that this is more valuable thanthe complicated world of trying to ascribe excellence to creativity.I have two pieces in the exhibition. Haunting Hunting is a drawinginspired by rock paintings, a little understood art form from thepast. I depicted a hunting scene that shows the power of the hunted.

Haunting Hunting

Seeds of Thought • LANGUAGE OF ART

27

Tarneem Al Mousawi – Luxury of ChoiceTogether with Tawona, and Maggie McBean from St Mungo Museum, I organised The Art

Of Poetry Exhibition. I’m more of an artist than a writer so I wanted to provide anopportunity for the group and myself to do something that incorporated art and words.

The luxury of Choice came from my frustration with the wasting of resources, and myown battle of trying to appreciate what I have. It is a two-piece artwork showing the sameperson in different states, from plenty to scarcity. It seems people who live in extremepoverty appreciate more than people who live with ‘the luxury of choice’. They can chooseto not eat (diet regimes) or waste, as they are subconsciously guaranteed to receive morefood. These attitudes, as with people’s circumstances, easily can change – signified by thedotted line linking and revolving around both states of being. Once I’d completed the artwork I struggled to create a poem to suit. I was assisted by Tawona as he thought of a linefrom one of his poems “Warm Wishes in the Cold” that matched the sentiment of what Iwanted to represent.

Lorna Callery - Newton’s Law I am a writer, artist and educator involved with Seeds of Thought for two years. Seeds of

Thought has provided a stimulating environment in which to share my work and has helpedestablish Glasgow’s Literary community over the years by running workshops, spoken wordnights and other events such as the Poetry Café. Seeds is a space where new andestablished writers can open up a dialogue about their work without fear of criticism. TheSeeds organisers are always pushing the boundaries for writers to challenge themselves bycreating new opportunities such as the Conflict exhibition.

Newton’s Law was inspired by the notion of freedom of speech, beliefs or opinions – abasic human right that can be forcibly silenced even in a ‘civilised society’. I used yellowpolice tape where the usual text is replaced by the poem Newton’s Law, which deals withwar. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and for the next generationwho are growing up in war zones or bombarded with propaganda, there is little hope fora brighter future. However, we should never stop trying to fight for what we believe in –especially peace – no matter how much yellow police tape gets in our way.

Kristen Neilson - Jailbird BluesI've been with Seeds Of Thought for 8 months and I love it because it’s good for my

writing skills to be around gifted poets and listen to their inspiration. It is fresh and raw andis fun to collaborate on subjects, which can be political, social or simply fun. It helps withmy song writing and allows me to share my unpublished work with people who appreciateit and give feedback. I love the CCA nights too and it is very cultural and uplifting.

Jailbird Blues is a whirlpool of two poetic reflections with a key from the outside makingits journey to a locked door in the inside, it is dreamy yet real and explores the associationsI have with the causes, triggers and manifestations of my battle and acceptance of beingdiagnosed with Bi-polar disorder. It makes you turn your head when you read it which givesthe feeling of dizziness and the fact that my life was turned upside down when I was in thethrows of the illness at its worst. I hope the piece evokes hope as recovery is paramountin the work as a whole and ultimately I want it to break down the stigma associated withany mental health problem.

Oli Higham - UpI've been involved with seeds over the past few years, regularly performing and

compering for the monthly nights. I also take part in their writing groups, although not asoften as I'd like to. I've also been part of a group of Seeds who took part in the nationalreview of live art, performing as part of an interactive piece ‘the book of blood’ exploringthe deceleration of human rights.

My piece in the exhibition is a painting from a series based on a poem which itself wasbased on a painting I had done years ago. The series explores the idea of pushing againstwaterfalls. Rebelling and fighting against the things that hold people down. A lot of my artis inspired by the pursuit of rising up from under oppression.

Luxury of Choice

Newton’s Law

Jailbird Blues

Up

28

reflection • Dr Mukti Barton

Iwas with my 95 years old Ma when she was trying to put outthe lamp of life in the firm belief that her dawn had come.

Ma had a fall in August 2009 and broke her hip. After six weeksit was found that although there was some healing, her body hadnot produced enough callus to make her hip strong. The doctorscould do no more and Ma was to be bed-ridden for the rest ofher life.

Ma was in her own home in India where she lived with myyoungest brother and family. I took leave from my work in Englandand when I arrived there I found that she had already closed hereyes to the world and had begun her inner journey towards thedawn. She acknowledged my arrival. I had two weeks and Idecided to stay with her all her waking hours during that time. Irealized that not only in the time of our birth but also in the timeof our death we need midwives: I feel I served as midwife to mydying mother.

She was in tune with her dying process. I do not know whotaught my mother to welcome her dying process, but she seemedto know what to do. Ma told us, her loved ones, that her time hadcome. She was preparing herself to meet her Maker and in herGethsemane she wanted her loved ones to be with her. Werealized that we should not distract her by talking about ordinarythings, but take her dying process seriously and support her.When Jesus was preparing himself for his death, Peter tried todistract him and this made Jesus angry (Mark 8.31-33), whereaswhen a woman poured perfume on Jesus' head to prepare him forhis burial he was pleased (Mark 14.3-9). I learned that one canhelp the dying person, not by denying the reality of death, but byacknowledging it.

Ma had no doubt that she was going to be one with Jesus andthat would be the best thing that could happen to her. She keptasking us, "When will Jesus take me? Why is he delaying?" For herjourney she needed only two things: the company of God and thepresence of her loved ones. She began to call her loved ones againand again by name and to call on God through hymns and prayers.Her unspoken message to us was clear: "stay with me; watch andpray". Hymns and songs were the last things lingering in hermemory, giving her the language she needed. In her Gethsemane,through her singing, she was saying, "Your will be done." Then sheasked us to commit her soul to God. We did that. She thencommitted herself to God. Ma believed that this would enable herto die.

Some days she expressed her fears: the fear of death, becauseit is completely unknown. She also had a fear of leaving her lovedones behind. Not by denying her fears but by admitting them sheovercame them. Prayers and singing, her spiritual exercises, wereaiding her.

During the daytime I sat by her bedside. She held my handtightly. She would pull my face down to shower it with kisses. Oneday she said, "Come and lie down next to me". I went and laydown. Others in the family asked in surprise, "What are youdoing?". As I lay down there we kissed and hugged each other andwept. After this she called my sister and sister-in-law to do thesame. One by one we went and lay down beside her and webathed ourselves in the overflowing love. This process touched usall at a very deep level.

We often hear that we must learn to love our neighbours, butdo we ever hear that we must learn to demand and receive love?My mother taught me that love is a circle which is created whenhuman beings demand, give, receive and return love. Littlechildren naturally create this circle of love. They demand love; theadults give it and the children in their receiving of love return itto the adults. For demanding and receiving love we have tobecome childlike and show our vulnerability.

Her deep attachment to us was helping her to be detached. Thedeeper her love was for us, the easier it was for her to let go. Shewas soaking up our love to be free from the bond of love.

Reflecting back I can see she died a good death - she died well- because she lived well. She loved her life. We might think it isdifficult for people to die if they love their life too much. Again Ibelieve there is a paradox here. If we love life, we can love death.She had a healthy attachment to life. When we know we havelived a good life, death is not so frightening.

As her body and mind became feeble, her soul was workingovertime. When all was stripped of her life, we could almost seethe essence of her being. Her inner being showed me that a well-developed spirituality was helping her dying process. Her religion,

"Death is not extinguishing thelight but putting out the lampbecause dawn has come" 1 M

rsMadho

biBala

Muker

jee

TheParadox Loveof

Dr Mukti Barton • reflection

29

Christianity, certainly helped her. As she had developed a verystrong relationship with Jesus, she had no doubt that she wasgoing to Him. This was not daunting, but an exciting prospect. Itwas a great privilege to have a glimpse of her soul.

Ma said she went to her grave twice and came back. I couldalmost see the threshold between life and death that her soul wasconstantly trying to cross. My leave ended, it was time to get backto England. I told Ma that I was goingback. She asked, "Why don't you wait untilI die?" I said I would come back atChristmas. She said, "You won't see methen." We both wept. I said, "Ma, I am notleaving you; I am taking you with me in myheart and you will remain there foreternity."

Her situation deteriorated fast andwithin five days of my return to Englandshe died. I later learned that on the dayshe died, she was left alone in her roomfor only a few minutes, and it was in thatmoment that she took the opportunity tosilently depart. My Baba (father) had done the same. Maybe it ishard to go when your loved ones are holding you tightly.

I was told that when Ma died she looked glorious. In India deathis not hidden away. As soon as my mother died people from theneighbourhood, both Hindus and Christians, began to gather.They washed the body and dressed her in a silk sari she wantedto wear in death. In the courtyard the coffin was made andwrapped beautifully with fabric. Her garlanded body was coveredwith flowers. There was an all-night vigil. In the morning her bodywas taken to another town, Krishnagar, to be buried. My Baba hadbeen a priest in that town for many years and was eventuallyburied there. For years Ma had been writing down her wishes onpieces of paper and had been telling us that she would like to beburied in Baba's grave in Krishanagar.

After the all-night vigil the burial was to take place as soon aspossible. In England I woke up at 3.30 am, calculating the timewhen the journey to Krishnagar would begin. I was shedding tearsof grief and joy, thinking that the great journey had begun, thejourney that she had been planning for many years, the journeythat she had so eagerly awaited. As the service was taking placein India, we, my family in our home in England, got up and kneltdown in our prayer corner to commit my Ma's soul and singsome Bengali hymns that she had been singing. The burial wasover within 24 hours of her death.

As was planned my husband and I went to India for Christmas.It was less than two months after Ma's death. As we walkedaround in the largely Hindu neighbourhood where she lived,Hindu men and women stopped us to talk about Ma. One Hinduwoman said "Your Ma loved us and she demanded our love. Whenshe was well she used to visit our homes. The last few years shehad been losing her strength, so she demanded that we visit her.

If she had not seen us for a few days, she would say, 'Why don'tyou come to see me any more?' When anyone in theneighbourhood was ill your mother used to pray to Jesus. Sheexpressed her love for us in this way." Another Hindu womanspoke during a prayer meeting given in my mother's honour. Shesaid, "Your Ma did not differentiate between Hindus andChristians and loved us all equally. She joined in our Hindu

festivals and we joined her in yourChristian festivals. Through her love wegot to know Christianity."

We always knew that Ma took equalcare of her body, mind and soul, but herdying process showed me the full extentof the strength of her spirituality. She wasdeeply connected with the ground ofbeing, God, and her own inner being. Theresult was outpouring love for all. Ma hada very strong Christian faith and thatenabled her to love all people irrespectiveof religion. This has also taught me that ifyour faith is deep, if you are a person of

deep spirituality, you do not see people of different religions as athreat. Your heart becomes wider and wider to love all people.

My mother taught methat love is a circle

which is created whenhuman beings demand,give, receive and returnlove. Little childrennaturally create this

circle of love

Dr Mukti Barton is Tutor and Lecturer in Queen’s Foundation

Birmingham. Main Teaching areas: Black and Asian Liberation Theology

and Bible and Liberation. She is also Bishop’s Adviser for Black and Asian

Ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham.

Ma could say this prayer of Rabindranath Tagorewholeheartedly:

Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own. Thouhast brought the distant near and made a friend of thestranger.

I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave myaccustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old inthe new, and that there also thou abidest.

Through birth and death, in this world or in others,wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same, the onecompanion of my endless life who ever linkest my heartwith bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.

When one knows thee, then alien there is none, thenno door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may neverlose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of themany.2

1 Rabindranath Tagore, cited in a card produced by Middx: The Grail.

2 Rabindranath Tagore, Collected Poems and Plays (London: MacMillan,

1936), p.30.

30

religious education• Children of Lomond School

Experiencing Sikh Generosity

As we stepped inside the Gurdwara we had to take ourshoes off and cover our heads with a cloth. Next we wentto the prayer hall and we had to bow to the Guru GranthSahib. We sat at the side of the canopy and sawworshippers arriving. Everyone sat together on the floorto show that everyone is equal. It is a good thing thatmen and women are treated in the same way.

Olivia Gibson and Rachel Currie

During our topic of Sikhism we learned about the five Ks .The first

is the kesh or uncut hair which is a sign of holiness. The Kara is a steel

bangle. It shows that God has no beginning and no end. The kirpan

or sword reminds Sikhs to stand up for what is right. The Sikhs also

wear cotton shorts. We think that these symbols show that Sikhs

really show respect to God.

Cameron Kemp, Gregor Cameron and Joseph Leila

Last month our year J5, of Lomond School in Helensburgh, went on a trip to the Sikh Gurdwara in Glasgow. We didthis for our RE subject Sikhism. The week after everyone wrote stories about their experience in the Gurdwara. We would like to share them with you.

Children of Lomond School • religious education

31

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is one of the most

important places of worship to Sikhs. Seven hundred and

fifty kilograms of pure gold was put into to making it! The

Golden Temple is in the middle of an artificial lake and has

four doors on each side which makes the temple open to all.

We found the Sikhs very welcoming and hospitable when we

visited their Gurdwara in Glasgow.

Paul Dunn and Charlie Johnston

When we went into the Gurdwara, we took off our shoesand put on a head scarf as a sign of respect to God. Wewent down the stairs to the Langer Hall. There were lovely,detailed pictures. We looked at each one of them andrealised that the Sikhs had suffered during their history.Phoebe Aylward and Jamie Fraser

Outside every Gurdwara flies a flag called the NishanSahib. It is orange and has the symbol of Sikhism called thekhanda. The circle means that God is always present. Theswords remind Sikhs to stand up for the truth and helpthose in need. We think that the Sikh belief to be kind andhelp people is one we should all follow.

Ross Hamilton and John Hodgkiss

When we arrived at the Gurdwara, we took our shoes offand put on a head scarf. One was orange with a picture ofa temple on it and the other one had the Ik Onkar symbolwhich means there is only one God. Sikhs believe that youshould work hard and we will try to do this in school!

Amber Colquhoun and Kara Bruce

When we visited the Gurdwara, we felt verywelcome. We knelt before the Guru Granth Sahibbefore sitting down in the prayer hall. When wewent down to the Langar hall or dining hall wehad food and drink. We found the Sikhs verywelcoming and pleased to teach us about theirreligion.

Millie Grover and Jennifer Bell

From our recent visit to the Gurdwara in Glasgow we

discovered how the Sikhs worship Guru Granth Sahib.

Generosity is a way of life for Sikhs and at the Gurdwara they

greet everyone and offer food and drink. When we finally had to

leave we felt that we had a better understanding of their

religion.

Sophie Monteith and Mackenzie Serpell

On our recent visit to the Gurdwara we experienced thelife of a Sikh. We saw the canopy where Guru Granth Sahibis kept. Also the Sikh teacher told us about the 5K’s whichare extremely important to them. Finally we were givensome food and drink to eat which made us feel verywelcome.Ben Mills & Abigail Swigsciski

We have enjoyed studying the Sikhism religion and wethink that we have some similar beliefs. For example Sikhsbelieve in equality and only in one God and we also believethis. In addition Sikhs go to a Gurdwara to worship and wego to a church to worship.

Felicity Hutchison (9) and Rhys Girvan (10)

We feel inspired by the Sikh way of life and Sikh beliefs. We areamazed at how strict they are in following their religion, forexample carrying the 5K’s every single day. When we visited theCentral Gurdwara in Glasgow we felt as if we experienced partof their culture.

Jimi Oniya and Andrew Macloed

Our class recently visited the Gurdwara in Glasgow. We wereamazed at the bed and canopy that holds the great book, GuruGranth Sahib. Other Sikhs came to worship this while we weretalking to the teacher. The Sikhs greeted us in the Langar Hallwith food and drinks which made us feel very welcome here.

Ruairidh Scott-Brown, Harry Baker and ChiaraRobertson

Sikhs are passionate about their religion. When weentered the Gurdwara we experienced how theyworship their god. We were given a factual lecture onhow the Sikh religion started and how it is today.This experience was exceptional and we left feelingmore knowledgeable about the religion and whathappens inside the Gurdwara.Benedict Ray and Andrew Porter

Our knowledge of Sikhism has increased by the way Sikhstreated us at the Gurdwara. As we entered we were told to take ourshoes off and cover our heads. This made us feel welcome in theirplace of worship. Our experience at the Gurdwara was fantastic asit gave us an insight into the real Sikh religion. Tyler Thomas and Callum Woodward

Outside the Gurdwara looked quite plain, however when westepped inside it was a rainbow of colours. As a sign of respectwe took off our shoes and covered our heads with headscarves.We were pleased that we were experiencing the real Sikh culture.Furthermore, we were given a factual talk about the importanceof Guru Granth Sahib.

Wallis Jamieson and Alexander Lauchlan

Book review • Shuaib Karriem/Chris Chivers

32

When Chris Chivers arrived in 2005 as a Canon atBlackburn Cathedral, his new home-town hadrecently been described by the then Deputy Prime

Minister’s office as one of the most segregated in Britain. Hisstarter budget line was zero. But from the smallest beginnings hasgrown what Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,has described as "one of the most important enterprises of ourtime”. This has seen Canon Chivers found exChange, thecathedral’s award-winning agency for interfaith and communitycohesion to try and ensure that differences of nationality, culture,ethnicity and faith are not points of conflict but can be celebratedinstead through dialogue for the common good.

Fully Alive, his latest book results from the five years he’s spentforging partnerships with people across the borough and waybeyond – not least his appointment of Anjum Anwar MBE, a well-known local Muslim, as the first Dialogue Development officer ata cathedral anywhere in the world. The book explores many ofthe social challenges faced by humanity worldwide, and each ofthe articles within it – many of which were first published innational and international newspapers and magazines – offersdeep insight into the human psyche as the author findsacceptance, respect and peace beyond difference.

From art to politics – with detours into soccer, rugby, cricket,theatre, ballet and much else besides – the book finds muchinspiration in Africa , a continent Canon Chivers loves and whichhe has served as priest and activist. There’s a whole section onPresident Obama – whom Canon Chivers clearly admires andwhose inauguration he attended as part of a BBC Radio 4 team.

But equally Canon Chivers discovers role models and inspirationamongst some of the legends of our time: Nelson Mandela,Desmond Tutu, the late Princess Diana, Jonny Wilkinson and thediarist Anne Frank, as equally amongst a priest in the middle ofJerusalem and a teenager in a mosque in Tuzla. Alongside these,he explores some of the toughest of historical issues – theHolocaust, apartheid, segregation in Britain and the Iraq War –but in a way that is never heavy-handed and always allows thereader space to think.

On the book’s back cover, the Archbishop of Canterbury,Dr Rowan Williams writes: "These are wonderfullycrafted reflections, clear, light-touch, sometimespoignant, full of insight and unexpected revelations.Chris Chivers brings together all sorts of experiences, aspriest and parent, thinker and commentator,experiences from the United Kingdom and South Africaand elsewhere, in a collection that has great innercoherence, and makes Christian discipleship deeplyattractive – as well as reminding at least one reader ofthe challenges of discipleship that have still to be met.”

Shuaib Karriem, an intern for exChange @ Blackburn Cathedral during

the summer of 2010, is a student at the University of Cape Town.

Published by Pretext, copies of Fully Alive are available at theoffer price for ‘Faith Initiative’ readers of £9-99 (RRP £14-99) pluspost and packaging (£1-50 per copy) where applicable.

For copies email: chrischivers01@msn.com or phone07706632508.

Fully Alive

Its aims are:

l To strengthen good inter faith relations at all levels

l To increase awareness of the different and distinct faithcommunities in the UK, in particular celebrating andbuilding on the contribution which their members make totheir neighbourhoods and to wider society; and

l To increase understanding between people of religious andnon-religious belief.

The Week is being led by the Inter Faith Network for the UK,working with its member bodies. It will be community-led, withlocal people and groups of different backgrounds holding theirown events and highlighting work going on to promoteunderstanding between people of different faiths and beliefs.

For further information please contact:enquiries@interfaithweek.org.uk

INTER FAITH WEEK 2010 Will run from Sunday 21st November to Saturday 27th November 2010

what’s on

Professor Ursula King • feminine and the divine

33

The creative tensions that exist in the field of spiritualityand gender, and the new spiritual ideas, rituals andpractices that are emerging out of the women’s and men’s

movement in religion, bear witness to much zest, energy and freshcreativity. They can be read as signs of the spirit in contemporaryculture pointing toward profound transformations and perhapsnew beginnings. This process of transformation is not justhappening in the West but is a global phenomenon. Instead ofbeing defined and confined by traditional religious teachings,women are now taking more and more part in helping to redefinereligion and spirituality everywhere. This is not only true ofChristian, Jewish or secular women from Europe and NorthAmerica, but around the whole world. The Pakistani scholarDurre S. Ahmed has forged the brilliant expression ‘Genderingthe Spirit’ for this transformation. Her book of this title bringstogether a collection of essays on women’s alternativeapproaches to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Catholicism inSouth Asiai. It provides plenty of evidence that there is a ‘silentrevolution’ going on among women of faith around the world, sofar little noticed among outsiders.

Throughout history, particular women have struggled, oftenagainst great odds, to pursue a spiritual path against the wishes oftheir families, friends, and religious authorities. The histories ofJain, Buddhist, and Christian nuns provide ample examples ofwomen following extraordinary paths of spiritual devotion andattainment. Women had to struggle to create their own religiouscommunities, and their gender always provoked male resistanceto women’s claim to autonomy, independent power and spiritualauthority. Thus women’s activities remained in most casesconstrained and controlled by male religious hierarchies, and thisis still the case today. Nowhere is this struggle more evident thanin the richly documented history of Christian nuns and sisters, inwhose cloisters and convents appeared countless womenscholars, mystics, artists, activists, healers and teachers over manycenturies of western history. This is a most precious heritage forwomen today. Whether Christian or not, all women can be trulyproud of this as they can be of the spiritual achievements ofwomen in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and other faiths.

Looked at from yet another perspective, the rich femaleimagery and symbolism in different world faiths, though oftenprofoundly ambivalent, also provides numerous spiritualresources for women. We can ask of all of them: Where are thesymbols and images of a feminine Divine, of female figures ofwisdom? Of the Spirit? Reading religious texts from a specificallyfemale gender perspective can lead to surprising new insights intothe human experience of the Divine, whether in genderedpatterns of mystical experience, or in the intimate presence ofthe Spirit within our bodies and in the natural world.

The 1893 Chicago World’s Parliament of Religions had stressedthe new opportunities for women in religion, but also the need to

study the sacred languages and scriptures for themselves. Sincethat remarkable event over a century ago, an ever growingnumber of highly educated Jewish women rabbis, Christianwomen ministers, female theology and religion scholars areplaying their part in shaping contemporary religious practice andscholarship in the West and helping to develop the rich spiritualresources of their traditions.

Similar developments can now be observed in Hinduism,Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism, and other religions in Asia, Africa andelsewhere in the world. Women around the globe are acquiringboth scholarly and spiritual competences; they are gaining newknowledge, agency, authority and public visibility, sometimes onlyreluctantly acknowledged or even strongly resisted within theirown communities. Contemporary Muslim, Buddhist, Hinduwomen and many others who have acquired a critical feministawareness, often also possess an activist inclination to work forchange in their own communities and in wider society. Thistransformative process can only happen when women gain fullaccess to literacy and education at all levels. With regard to thereligious heritage this not only means the ability to read andwrite, but to understand and interpret religious thought, offerspiritual advice with discernment, authority and wisdom, and toacquire full ‘spiritual literacy’. By now women have recoveredmany rich resources for the development of spirituality - inChristianityii Judaismiii and a wider perspectiveiv to mentionjust three examples from a large field of spiritual literature.

Contemporary thinking has moved on from an exclusivelyfeminist and woman-centred approach to a more inclusive re-visioning of gender relations which will have a radical impact onspiritual practice. If we seek to ensure not merely the survival ofthe human species on planet earth, but human flourishing for allpeoples in East and West, South and North – a flourishing that isclosely dependent on the advancement of greater peace andjustice around the globe – then it is imperative that women’sspiritual commitment and dedication play a full part in thisprocess, but also that we understand more clearly the complexconnections between spirituality and gender. Only then will we beable to develop spiritualities that will truly nurture and supportthe lives of individuals and communities around the globe.

Ursula King is Professor Emerita of Theology & Religious Studies & SeniorResearch Fellow at the Inst. of Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol, anda Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies atthe University of London.

i Ahmed, Durre S., ed. (2002). Gendering the Spirit. Women, Religion and the Post-Colonial Response. London and New York: Zed Books.

ii Wolski Conn, Joann,ed. (1996) Women’s Spirituality: Resources for ChristianDevelopment. Mahwah, NJ:Paulist Press. 2nd edition

iii Umansky, Ellken M. and Dianne Ashton, eds. (1992) Four Centuries of JewishWmen’s Spirituality.A Sourcebook. Boston: Beacon Press

iv Harris, Maria (1991) The Seven Steps of Women’s Spirituality. New York: BantamBooks

A Silent Revolution Gendering the Spirit:

34

Insight• Meena Verma

The Caste System

The caste system, which has existed for more than 3000 years,is a traditional system of social segregation, which works on theprinciple of purity and pollution. The caste system is historicallylinked to Hinduism, but it is also followed by those of otherreligions and none. Indian society is divided into four mainhierarchical caste groups: brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas andshudras. Beyond this fourfold classification, there is a category of“Untouchables” who are now identified under their ownpreferred name of Dalit meaning ‘broken people’ or ‘brokenvoices’. They occupy the lowest position within the caste system.There are over 270 million Dalits worldwide with 170 million inIndia alone. Their future has been preordained by their descent.

Caste discrimination is one of the most serious ongoing humanrights violations in the world today. Despite the practice ofuntouchability being formally outlawed in the Indian constitutionof 1950, Dalits continue to suffer discrimination, violence, povertyand a level of exploitation that amounts to modern day slavery.

Caste discrimination in modern India

Despite its reputation as ‘Shining India’, the world’s biggestdemocracy and second fastest growing global economy can onlyreally attest to benefitting 7% of its population. In many ruralareas and small towns, the caste system is still very rigid. Caste isalso a factor in the politics of India: since Dalits constitute asignificant vote bank, timely promises are made and then equallyquickly broken. Dalit women (and girls) carry the triple burden ofdiscrimination - gender, caste and poverty - thus, their means ofeconomic and social survival is even more restricted.

Caste discrimination in the UK today

Despite the fact that many people of South Asian origin haveleft their home countries and are highly educated, caste tends tostay within the South Asian Diaspora. They number something inthe region of 2.3 million within the UK or 4% of the total

population. It is impossible to say with certainty how many ofthese people are of Dalit origin as detailed research of this natureis lacking, but it is accepted that there is a significant ‘populationpool’ of Dalit origin, numbering anything from 50,000 to 200,000and spanning the various sub-continental religions.

While individuals of Dalit origin and their descendents in theUK no longer pursue the culture-specific menial ‘polluting’occupations traditionally associated with their caste status, the‘untouchability mindset’ persists in the form of direct and indirectdiscrimination. Ancestry is identified in a number of ways,including on the basis of name (although names may be changed),place of origin, former occupation, family members’ occupations,place of worship, education, social circle and on the basis ofcommunity knowledge. Therefore it is of little surprise that sucha deeply entrenched form of discrimination also exists within theDiaspora communities in the UK - a fact that must be a cause forconcern for those who seek equality and justice.

A growing international concern

In her ‘Opinion’ piece dated 8th October 2009 and titled:‘Tearing Down the Wall of Caste’, Navi Pillay, the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights, wrote:

‘As a woman of colour from a racial minority growing up inapartheid South Africa, I know a thing or two aboutdiscrimination. Today, caste affected communities and civil societyactivists are hoping to tear down the much bigger invisible wall ofdiscrimination by trying to promote new international standardsof equality and non-discrimination. I have tremendous respect fortheir determination and courage.

Caste is the very negation of the human rights principles ofequality and non-discrimination. It condemns individuals frombirth and their communities to a life of exploitation, violence,social exclusion and segregation. Caste-discrimination is not onlya human rights violation, but also exposes those affected to otherabuses of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Caste discrimination and prejudice – a very modern crime

Restoring

broken“the”

35

Meena Verma • InsightThe time has come to eradicate the shameful concept of caste.

Other seemingly insurmountable walls, such as slavery andapartheid, have been dismantled in the past. We can and must teardown the barriers of caste too.’ (Published on the Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights website www.ohchr.org)

UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery,Gulnara Shahinian presented her first thematic report to theHuman Rights Council on the issue of 'bonded labour'. She saidthat the 'causes of bonded labour have, dishearteningly, notchanged with the times. Factors such as poverty, migration,discrimination on the basis of race, caste, social status and genderare still the main causes of bondedlabour.'

And here in the UK

The Equality Bill has been making itsway through Parliament over the pastthree years. We – the Dalit SolidarityNetwork UK - have been campaigningsince 2006 for the inclusion of caste asa ‘protected characteristic’ alongsidesex, race, religion, gender etc. This wassteadfastly refused on the grounds thatall the evidence was purely anecdotal -this, despite amendments being laid down in the House ofCommons by supportive MPs across the parties. The Networkand communities took the campaign to the House of Lordsduring its reading of the Bill.

At a meeting in the House of Lords on 4 February 2010 anunprecedented meeting took place hosted by the MinisterBaroness Thornton. More than 20 Dalit groups assembled to giveevidence of the continued discrimination against them, theirfamilies and their children. Some talked about being preventedfrom promotion to management posts and to unfair and unequaltreatment. Others said that their caste prevented their childrenfrom attending a local publicly-funded faith school, and how suchreligiously segregated schools impeded social cohesion. One manspoke of his personal suffering, which he did not want his childrento bear. In contrast, one young Dalit man said it was time to standup and be counted – to come out and declare: WE ARE DALIT AND WE ARE PROUD. The evidence waspowerful and compelling.

Thus, on March 24, 2010 the House of Lords agreed to make anamendment to the Single Equality Bill that will give theGovernment power to forbid caste discrimination. The clausestates that ministers can define ‘caste’ to be an aspect of ‘race ‘along with nationality, colour and ethnic origin. The amendmentwas passed by the House of Commons on April 6 2010 andgranted Royal Assent on 8 April. A study into the impact, nature,severity and extent of caste discrimination has now beencommissioned by the Government following which a decisionwill be made on whether to ban caste discrimination. LordAvebury, who had tabled the amendment, said he believed that

the research would "conclusively prove that caste discriminationdoes occur in the fields covered by the Bill".

This promising development within our own legal systemthreatens India's much-touted success in keeping caste out ofthe resolution adopted at the 2001 Durban conference onracism. India's opposition to the linking of caste with race beganin 1996, when it tried to free itself of ‘reporting obligation’under CERD (UN Committee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination) saying that caste, though perpetuated throughdescent, was ‘not based on race’.

Having lobbied intensively for the inclusion ofcaste in the Equality Bill we are, of course,pleased with the outcome of the vote in theHouse of Lords, and the study set up by theGovernment, but any form of complacency onour part at this stage would be ill-advised. Ibelieve that the process should not be delayedand that the amendment legislation should beenacted urgently. The Government needs to dowhat is morally right and protect the victims ofcaste discrimination in the UK. By taking such astep, it can also set a powerful example forother countries where this appalling form ofdiscrimination exists.

Meena Verma is Director Dalit Solidarity Network UK

Caste is the very

negation of the

human rights

principles of

equality and non-

discrimination.

36

poem • Rebecca Irvine Bilkau

A Masterclass in ScholarshipTwenty years retired, this spring his projectis Latin, ‘at last’. We give him Asterixand when he sees the book is in the tongueof its little hero’s foes, the old scholarlaughs, in on the tease that irony might belost on him. He doesn’t clean his glassesto admire the cartoon’s fluency or witbut when he feels my worry for his sighthe describes the mist at 6 a. m., the skeinof dew between the night-time and the light,and its promise of summer spiders, the oneswe’d both pet if we could. He pats my wrist

to show there’s nothing new to fear on earthsave our fear to look and wonders, the oldphilosopher, what to leave for the new unborn:the idea that they’re the gloria mundihowever they say it? That might be fun,I nod, starting to conjure translations.

Rebecca Irvine Bilkau ©

37

Hans Hoffman • scriptColours of the Divine

The whole world, as we experience itvisually, comes to usthrough the mysticalrealm of colour.Hans Hoffman - Artist 1880-1966

Colours of

the Di

vine

38

colours of the divine • Umm Hanié Rebler

Colour has different symbolic meanings in differentcultures. Green has a special place in Islam becausethe Prophet Muhammad wore a

green jubba and green turban. Green isused in the decoration of mosques aswell as bindings for the Qur’an and forthe covers of saints’ maqams (tombs). Itis also considered to be the colour ofParadise. Blue, violet and turquoise havea particular mystical meaning, being thecolours of devotion and the feminine,which is why they are used so much todecorate mosques, in beautifullyarranged patterns of tiles, both insideand outside. White symbolises purity, which is why manypeople choose to wear white on Fridays when they worshipin the mosque. Black is the most powerful because it is theonly ‘colour’ which can manifest itself without light.

Some Sufi disciples see bands of light before their eyes orintricate patterns before they go to sleep, according to theirspiritual state. Sometimes they see violet, blue, magenta,green, yellow, orange and gold patterns with Arabic writing.

One Sufi friend told us that he saw the letters of the Qur’anturning from black to gold when he was reading it. Some

people are able to see auras, while thosewho are fortunate enough to see angelsin all their splendour speak of thefeathering of their gigantic wingssparkling like jewels. Or radiant like apeacock’s tail - marvellous, shimmering,iridescent colours. In many descriptionsof angels in holy books we are amazed toread of their multi-coloured wings. Theirsilvery unearthly whiteness and gold havea translucent quality that is not seen hereon earth.

‘Their garments are white, but with an unearthlywhiteness. I cannot describe it, because it cannot becompared to earthly whiteness; it is much softer to the eye.These bright Angels are enveloped in a light so differentfrom ours that by comparison everything else seems dark.When you see a band of fifty, you are lost in amazement.They seem clothed with golden plates, constantly moving,like so many suns.’ Père Lamy.

Colours of Light

Black is the mostpowerful because itis the only ‘colour’

which canmanifest itselfwithout light

‘You never see red, green and reddish brown until you see lightBut because your mind was distracted by colour, the colours became a veil to you from (perceiving)

the lightSince the colours are hidden at night, you have therefore found that the sight of colours is necessarily

due to light.For without external light, there is no sight of colour, it is the same with inward, mental colours’.1

Colours of the Divine

39

Umm Hanié Rebler • colours of the divine

When I was a little girl at school we often used to sing thehymn ‘All things bright and beautiful’.. Not only did it have arousing melody that made us all feel uplifted, but in itsimagery and in its simplicity, it speaks to everyone and Ioften reflect on these words:

‘All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.’2

I live near the River Rhine in a most beautiful part ofGermany called the Rheingau. Every dayI thank my Lord for the many gifts hecontinuously showers upon us. When Ilook out of my window I see the sparkleof the river and how it changes in alllights and all weathers. Sometimes it iscalm and placid, sometimes a pearly grey,sometimes green, at other times steelgrey, lashed with white horses. But thereis a particularly peaceful light just aftersunset, when it is a most wondrous, silkyblue.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colours,

He made their tiny wings:’3

The area abounds in birds. White swans all the yearround, herons and storks in spring and summer, until they flyaway again in the autumn. The geese fly over our house,looking for grain in the snow-covered fields, the blue titscome to our balcony to feed; the crows sit at the top of thecypress tree vying with one another for territory, thepheasants run around in the vineyards showing theirsplendid russet with black and white spotted patterns, whilethe hawks and buzzards hover and soar over fields and river

in search of their prey. Each one has its dress of shiningplumage - pure white, black and white, silver-grey, brownspeckled, striped with amber to brown quills, the blue andyellow of the blue tits, the royal blue and teal along theedges of the geese’s wings. Sometimes there is awoodpecker with his green array, or two wood pigeons withtheir soft grey and white colours. We also have SouthAmerican parrots flying in flocks around our garden, shininga luminous green in the sunlight.

When the sun sets in the winter, with the filigree of thetrees against the sky, the river is aglow with a rosy andpurple light. Sometimes the sky is bright orange or a fierycrimson and then the nuances of the river are remarkablysubtle, ever-changing from grey to purple, to mother-of-

pearl, to pink, to the palest lilac withdark purple clouds.

Each season brings its own divinerevelation and I cannot help but bereminded of the Lord’s graciousnesswhen I see the trees in their springraiment of delicate green, their shade-giving, darker leaves in summer and thevariety of yellows, oranges and reds inautumn. Then comes the harvest withred, yellow and green apples, yellow andbrown pears, purple and green grapes,

orange pumpkins. Sometimes I ask myself how He continuesto create and hold everything together, despite man’s all-too-frequent heedlessness towards his environment.

When I see the spider-webs in autumn, hanging with dewin rainbow-coloured droplets, or even a rainbow itself, I feelhumbled by the Lord’s majesty. I am in awe of His creativityin inventing the fragile beauty of a butterfly’s wings, thedelicacy of a dragonfly with its transparent, diaphanouswings, its incredible eyes. Even the strangest fish in thedarkest depths of the oceans, whose colours shineluminously from the darkness when light is shed upon them,are a sign of God’s greatness.

How can anyone deny His existence when all His signs arethere for us to see and be reminded of Him.

When the sun setsin the winter, withthe filigree of thetrees against thesky, the river isaglow with a rosyand purple light.

Then which of the favoursOf your Lord will ye deny? 4

1 Mathnawi I 1121 – 1124 Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, 2 Mrs C.F. Alexander, 1818-95 Songs of Praise, 3 Ibid, 4 The Holy Qur’an Sura 55, Ar Rahman

Colours of

the Di

vine

40

colours of the divine • Caroline Jariwala/Alena Pergl Wilson

Tree of life - Chakra Series by Carloine Jariwala www.carolinejariwala.com

Mooladhara - Base chakra. Associated element Earth:represented as Ruby/ Garnet Red - colour of red earth,representing stability, grounding, vitality, self preservation.

Swadhistana - Sacral chakra. Associated elementWater: represented as Orange/Red Camellia colour - placeof potential stored emotional negativity, attachment tosexual desire, which needs to be transcended to progresson the spiritual path. Once the control of this chakra ismastered, there is a transformation: release of joy,happiness, creativity /procreation.

Manipura - 'City of Jewels' - Solar plexus chakraAssociated Element is Fire – represented asOrange/Yellow - like gold and sun, associated with warmth,will power, energy, enthusiasm, self-esteem, richness, well-being.

Anahata - Heart chakra is traditionally represented asGreen (mint, fresh, light green), chakra of unconditionallove, peace, compassion, balance, calm. Light green colour isused for emotional healing. Associated element is Air.

Vishudhi - Throat chakra – represented as Light Blue -Grey. Chakra of communication, speech, cleansing, self-expression. Associated element is Sound

Ajna - Third Eye – represented as Indigo, colour ofintellect, wisdom and understanding, imagination, clarity.Associated element is Light.

Sahasrara - Crown chakra - Thousand Petal Lotus –represented as all rainbow colours (sometimes shown asViolet/Magenta, or even White) associated with universalenergy, inspiration, perfection, clarity, union with the Divine.Associated element is Ether/ Void/ Space.

Alena Pergl Wilson

Colours of the Chakras

41

Tariq Ramadan • focus

This book is a work of clarification, a deliberately accessiblepresentation of the basic ideas I have been defending formore than twenty years. It is intended for those who have

little time to spare: ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists,perhaps some social workers or teacherswho may be in a bit of a hurry but whowant to understand and possibly to checkthings out. Rather than entering my namein a web search engine (and coming upwith the million links that mainly reportwhat others have written about me) orbeing content with the so-called freevirtual encyclopedias that are in fact sobiased (like Wikipedia, where the factualerrors and partisan readings areastounding), I give readers this opportunityto read me in the original and simply getdirect access to my thought.

In recent years I have been presented as a “controversialintellectual”. What this means is not quite clear, but in effecteveryone admits that a controversial intellectual is one whosethought does not leave people indifferent: some praise it, otherscriticize it, but in any case it causes them to react and think. I havenever kept to a single field of intervention: I have not dealt onlywith the “Islamic religion”, although it is important

What I Believe, to note that one of the areas I work on, is indeedtheological and legal reflection starting from within Islamicreferences. I do not represent all Muslims but I belong to thereformist trend. I aim to remain faithful to the principles of Islam,on the basis of scriptural sources, while taking into account theevolution of historical and geographical contexts.

SEVERAL FRONTS, TWO UNIVERSES, ONEDISCOURSEMy discourse faces many-sided opposition and this obviously

prevents it from being fully heard in its substance, its subtleties,and its vision for the future. Some of the criticisms expressed areof course sincere and raise legitimate questions— which I will tryto answer in the present work—but others are clearly biased and

attempt to pass off their selective, prejudiced hearing as“doublespeak” one should be wary of. I have long been criticizingtheir deliberate deafness and their ideological “double hearing”: Iam determined to go ahead, without wasting my time over such

strategic diversions, and remain faithful tomy vision, my principles, and my project. Imean to build bridges between twouniverses of reference, between two(highly debatable) constructions termedWestern and Islamic “civilizations” (as ifthose were closed, monolithic entities),and between citizens within Westernsocieties themselves. My aim is to show,in theory and in practice, that one can beboth fully Muslim and Western and thatbeyond our different affiliations we sharemany common principles and valuesthrough which it is possible to “live

together” within contemporary pluralistic, multicultural societieswhere various religions coexist. Several Fronts, Two Universes,One Discourse - the essence of that approach and of theaccompanying theses originated much earlier than 9/11. Neitherdid it come as a response to Samuel Huntington’s mid-1990spositions about the “clash of civilizations” (which anyway havebeen largely misinterpreted). As early as the late 1980s, then in my1992 book Muslims in the Secular State, I stated the firstfundamentals of my beliefs about the compatibility of values andthe possibility for individuals and citizens of different cultures andreligions to coexist positively (and not just pacifically). Unlikewhat I have observed among some intellectuals and leaders,including some Muslim thinkers and religious representatives,those views were by no means a response to current events nora change of mind produced by the post- 9/11 trauma. Theyrepresent a very old stance which was confirmed, developed, andclarified in the course of time. Its substance can be found in myfirst books and articles in 1987–1989; those views were then builton and expanded in every book I wrote up to the presentsynthesis. A Muslim’s religious discourse, and the mediator’s roleitself, bring about negative reactions in both universes ofreference.

TARIQ RAMADANWHAT I BELIEVE

a “controversialintellectual”...What thismeans is not quite clear,but in effect everyone

admits that acontroversial intellectualis one whose thoughtdoes not leave people

indifferent

Extract from WHAT I BELIEVE by Tariq Ramadan pub. Oxford University Press 2010

42

Tariq Ramadan • focus

What makes things more difficult is that I do not merely shedlight on overlapping areas and common points between the twouniverses of reference but that I also call intellectuals, politicians,and religious figures to a necessary duty of consistency andselfcriticism. My interlocutors do not like this latter exercise somuch because indeed it is not easy. The encounter between theWest and Islam (between civilizations, nations, and/or citizens)will not be achieved constructively and positively through merewishful thinking, by What I Believe optimistically recalling theexistence of common values. The problem lies further upstream.All of us should show humility, respect, and consistency. Humility,by admitting that nobody, no civilization or nation, holds amonopoly on universals and on the good, and that our politicaland social systems are not perfect; respect toward othersbecause we should be convinced that their richness andachievements can be beneficial to us; and last consistency, becausethe other’s presence acts like a mirror in which we shouldconfront our own contradictions and inconsistency in theconcrete, day-to-day implementation of our noblest values. This isa difficult exercise but an imperative one. Instead of unfairlycomparing the ideal of our theoretical values with the other’spractical deficiencies, we must compare practices, shed light oncontradictions and mutual hypocrisies, and together impose adouble requirement: clarifying the area of our common values andstriving to be ever more faithful to them intellectually, politically,socially, and culturally. This strict, staunch commitment has causedme to be perceived as a “traitor” by some Muslims and as a “fifthcolumn infiltrated agent” by some of my Western fellow-citizens.To Muslims, I repeat that Islam is a great and noble religion butthat all Muslims and Muslim majority societies did not in the pastand do not now live up to this nobleness: critical reflection isrequired about faithfulness to our principles, our outlook onothers, on cultures, freedom, the situation of women, and so on.Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless.

To Westerners, I similarly repeat that the undeniableachievements of freedom and democracy should not make usforget murderous “civilizing missions”, colonization, the SeveralFronts, Two Universes, One Discourse 23 destructive economicorder, racism, discrimination, acquiescent relations with the worstdictatorships, and other failings. Our contradictions andambiguities are countless. I am equally demanding and rigorouswith both universes.

MULTIPLE IDENTITIESFIRST AN AMERICAN (A EUROPEAN,AN AUSTRALIAN), OR A MUSLIM?

Globalization, migrations, exile, increasingly rapid political andsocial change, all these phenomena cause fear, anxiety, andtension. Former landmarks seem outdated and fail to provideserenity: who are we at the core of such upheavals? The issue ofidentity stems from those deep disturbances. When so manypeople around us, in our own society, no longer resemble us andappear so different, we naturally feel the need to redefineourselves. Similarly, the experience of being uprooted, ofeconomic and political exile, leads to this quest for identity at thecore of an environment that is not naturally ours. The reaction isunderstandable but what should be stressed here is that it isabove all a re-action to a presence or an environment felt asforeign. Thus one defines one’s identity by reaction, bydifferentiation, in opposition to what one is not, or even againstothers. The process is a natural one, and it is just as natural thatthe approach should become binary and eventually set a more orless constructed “identity” against another that is projected onto“the other” or “society.” Identities defined in this manner, reactiveidentities, are in essence unique and exclusive, because of the verynecessity that has given rise to them: the point is to know whoone is and, clearly, who one is not.

This attitude is natural and, once again, understandable in aperiod of rapid upheavals, but it is unhealthy and dangerous.Attempts to clarify things are actually oversimplifying and aboveall reductive. Clear answers are expected from oneself and one’sfellow-citizens: one should be primarily “American,” “Australian,”“New Zealander,” “Italian,” “French,” “British,” “Dutch”—orprimarily “Jewish,” “Christian,” or “Muslim.” Any answer thatattempts to qualify this exclusive self-definition tends to beperceived as ambiguous. More fundamentally, this casts doubt onthe loyalty of individuals, and particularly today of Muslims whoare required to say whether they are first and foremost “Muslim”or “American,” “Canadian,” “South African,” “Singaporian,”“French,” “Italian,” “British” . . . The question explicitly addressestheir definition of their identity whereas implicitly, and moreseriously, it has to do with loyalty. Since one can only have oneidentity, one can only have one loyalty. A clear, unqualified,unambiguous answer must be given!

I mean to build bridges betweentwo universes of reference...

43

Tariq Ramadan • focus

43

subscription/donation form

Yet the question itself is meaningless. Obsessed with the idea ofdefining oneself in opposition to what one is not, one ends upreducing oneself to a single identity that issupposed to tell everything. Yet there aredifferent orders within which one will have todefine oneself differently. Asking whether oneis primarily “Muslim” or “American,”“Australian,” “Italian,” “French” or “Canadian”opposes two identities and affiliations that donot belong to the same realm. In the realm ofreligion and philosophy, that which impartsmeaning to life, a human being is first andforemost an atheist, a Buddhist, a Jew, aChristian, or a Muslim: her or his passport ornationality cannot answer the existentialquestion. When an individual must vote for a candidate at anelection, she or he is first an American, Italian, French, or Britishcitizen involved in national affairs. Depending on the realm or thefield of activity, the individual therefore puts forward one identityor another, and that is not contradictory. At a talk I was giving

one day in Greece, at George Papandreou’s invitation, theeconomist Amartya Sen expressed his total agreement with my

thought through a fine illustration. Suppose,he said, you are a poet and a vegetarian. If youare a dinner guest, this is no time or place toinsist on your identity as a poet, while if youattend a poetry circle, you are certainly notgoing to introduce yourself as a vegetarian,for you would be seen as eccentric. In otherwords, you have more than one identity andyou give priority to one of those identities orthe other depending on the environment orsituation, without this affecting your loyalty toone order of affiliation or the other. A poetwho says he is a vegetarian at a meal is no less

a poet! The example is indeed enlightening, and it proves that thequestion of what one is foremost (or exclusively) is a badquestion, a question that must be questioned and that, ultimately,one should refuse to answer.

...one endsup reducingoneself to a

singleidentity...

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44

editorial note • Heather Wells

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45

Michael Lewin• mind, body & spirit

A peaceful simplicityAthousand, uninvited winds bring a thousand changes.

"This is good" we happily tell ourselves, announcingdelight at our welcomed new arrival. But then suddenly,

without apparent warning, a cold, biting front unsettles us aschange sweeps in again. "Ah, this is bad" we declare, feelingsomehow robbed of our previous state of good fortune. So onthese very winds of change our anxieties and fears are borne thatdrive us on into activity, into ‘busyness': "I must do this, I must dothat”, we assert to ourselves, perhaps feeling over-stretched andanxious about possible negative outcomes.

So many times we can judge a situation prematurely orsuperficially to conclude that it is a 'bad break', but if we reflectmore fully on the situation and explore it more deeply we mayvery well discover within it seeds of learning - seeds of further,richer understanding. In the hurricanes that blow ferociously andrecklessly through our lives, trying to rip them apart, we can finda place of stillness and peace that can teach us acceptance,humility and the need to heal.

To seek a grounding in peace, that keeps us calm in moments ofpersonal crisis, to cultivate a settled mind that can help shield usfrom the full force of suffering and conflict, requires deep-seatedadjustment on our behalf. But it is something that we need topursue and develop as we tread deeper into the spiritual life.Looking for peace, however, in the world around us, is a futileexercise because it can never be found there; wherever we maysearch. Peace in reality is an inner quality - peace is WITHIN US.No one can give us this gift nor take it away from us becausepeace is a product of our own minds, our own 'non judging' mindsthat have abandoned the heavy weight of expectation, opinion andcriticism.

" No paradise of the EastNo paradise of the West

Seek along the way you have comeThey are all within you. "

The Zenrin

In the process of building up a strong sense of composure, inorder to work with life effectively, we inevitably have to nurtureand refine our discriminatory powers for discerning what isactually important for us. Unfortunately so much of oureconomically driven society has now become something of asideshow that has no real, deep significance for us, spirituallyspeaking. So finding a personal balance within its culture becomesan even more difficult and urgent task. It is a balance, an

equilibrium, that has to be sought, it has to be worked at,otherwise there is a risk of us being carried away on the ever-rising tide of mass consumerism that threatens to engulf us all.

Each of us carry within us an obligation to embrace simplicity asa way of self regulation. That is accepting less - less of everything.For in the simplicity mode of living we are encouraged to let goof all that binds us, all that complicates our lives so that we canrediscover a calmer, healthier state of being, not just solely for ourmind and spirit, but also for our bodies too.

At its very core simplicity recognizes the imperative of developinga 'not wanting ' mind so that we can start to see through theillusion of craving and desire, to see the harm that these restlessenergies can cause, both in ourselves and in society as a whole.Active participation in a consumer led culture will never bring anyreal, enduring pleasure or lasting satisfaction; and it almostcertainly will never contribute to any potential for self-deepening.The call to reductionism will though, if energetically engaged with,enable us to deal much more skilfully and effectively with ourconstantly demanding world in an enlivened, refreshed way to seewith clear vision all that is precious in our individual and collectivelives.

A life of simplicity gives us more time to notice the things that arereally important. It engenders a sensitivity - makes us more aware,more mindful of the world around us and our sacredconnectedness to it. And if we commit ourselves fully to it, inevery possible way we can, we will undoubtedly be brought to athreshold of a real peace, a deep abiding serenity that we mayhave never experienced before.

" Here none think of wealth and fameAll talk of right and wrong is quelled

In autumn I rake the leaf - banked streamIn spring I attend the nightingale."

Daigu Ryokan (1758-1831)

46

circling the world • Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke

AParliament, in the original sense, is an occasion whenpeople talk together. The six thousand participants in theFifth Parliament of the World’s Religions, held in

Melbourne in December 2009, certainly did this in good measure.There were numerous lectures, panel discussions and seminars aswell as conversations in corners of the spacious new ConventionCentre or over the table at mealtimes. Yet the most preciousmoments were when heart spoke to heart or in silence weshared communion with the Divine who is faith-blind and colour-blind.

‘Celebrating Difference’ and ‘Respect for the Other’ were thecatch-words. The fact that such a diverse gathering, with peoplefrom many countries and faith communities, could come togetherin enjoyable fellowship was a significant witness to the fact thatreligions need not be a cause of division, but a means of mutualenrichment and shared action for the common good. This wasimportant in Melbourne, which is now a vibrant multi-culturalcity.

There were opportunities to learn more about one another’sreligions, to listen to his or her music and to share in their rituals.There were discussions about the relation of faiths to each other,and a focus on the religious contribution to the critical issuesfacing humanity today. Uppermost was concern for theenvironment. Australia’s First People – the Aborigines - made asignificant contribution by reminding us that the Earth is sacred.They also made us more aware of the oppression and alienationfrom which many indigenous people suffer.

Because of the nature and variety of programmes, eachparticipant would experience her or his own Parliament. For me,the moments I remember most vividly were renewing globalfriendships, and sharing times of personal reflection. At thesession on ‘Older People: Revered or Redundant’ led by my wifeMary, several people talked about their difficulties in ensuringproper care for their parents. Others, from several faiths, spokefrom their experience as hospice chaplains. An American armychaplain particularly moved me as he talked about ministering tosoldiers, especially after one of them had been killed. Despite theceremonial element of mourning, there is a culture of denial ofgrief, which may be why so many soldiers, who have seen activeservice, suffer from prolonged trauma.

A similar heart to heart sharing took place at the retreat styleprogramme: ‘The Inner Voice of Peace: Interfaith a Life ChangingExperience’ which was led by Sister Maureen of the Brahma

Kumaris and myself. We needed more than the set hour and a halffor this session and, to escape from the lecture room, we met atthe Seamen’s Centre across the River Yara from the ConventionCentre. Introducing our time together, I recalled that as a studenton my first visit to India, I received the invaluable counsel that:“the outer dialogue must always be accompanied by the innerdialogue” - we talk to a person of another faith, but then - forwhich silence is essential - we reflect on that conversation withthe Lord. As such interfaith becomes a life changing experience.Several participants very movingly shared their spiritual journey.As they did so, I realised why for me the concept of ‘CelebratingDifference’ is not enough. It is good to meet respectfully withpeople of other faiths and learn about their beliefs and practices,but you can do this without reflecting on your own. As Teilhardde Chardin once wrote, ‘You can travel round the world withoutmoving an inch’. The concept of ‘Respecting the Other’ allowsmembers of more traditional faith traditions to participate ininterfaith gatherings - the wider the participation, the greater thecontribution to ‘social cohesion’. But for those for whominterfaith becomes a life changing experience, their attitude totraditional beliefs and practices is more questioning. They sensea Divine Reality that transcends the particular paths, and in whosepresence there is a deeper unity.

This I experienced in the religious observance arranged by theWorld Congress of Faiths and in the Peace Prayer ceremony.Most religious observances at the Parliament were arranged bymembers of a particular faith community who invited others asguests, or they were what are called ‘serial ceremonies’ in whichmembers of each faith in turn share readings from theirscriptures. The WCF observance ‘Respect for the Earth’ wasdifferent. It was a unified liturgy, drawing on the riches of severaltraditions, which were then woven together. We joined in prayersof thanksgiving, sorrow and commitment and after a prayer to theFour Winds, we greeted each other in a circle of peace.

On the last evening I shared in the dedication of Peace PrayerPole – ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’. The flags of every nation werethere and every country was prayed for by name. At one levelthere was diversity, but at a deeper level there was spiritual unity.

Celebrating Difference

A Personal Reflection on the Parliament of the World’s Religions

Discovering Unity

1,000 World Prayers, compiled and edited by Rev Dr Marcus

Braybrooke, President of the World Congress of Faiths, has recently

been reprinted published by O-Books www.o-books.net @ £12.99

47

Eleanor Nesbitt / Owen Cole • book review

Over several decades Owen Cole has inspired students,colleagues and readers with his commitment tobuilding interfaith understanding. His autobiography

shares his insights with a new audience. As he tells us, ‘This storyhas three intertwining strands. One is my deep interest inreligious education from 1954 onwards… until now; the secondis the multifaith journey that I have travelled since about 1968; andthe third is my own continuing spiritual pilgrimage’ (p. viii).

As an educator, based in higher education institutions in Leedsand Chichester, Cole played a leading part in establishing religiouseducation as a broadly based study of beliefs and values, and he isparticularly well known for his many publications on the Sikhreligion. He wrote on the Hindu tradition too, and hisobservations on teaching about Christianity effectively, in a non-confessional way, have still not received the attention theydeserve. He was a founder member of the Shap Working Party onWorld Religions in Education, which pioneered and promoted theaccurate and sensitive teaching and study of ‘world religions’ at alllevels in education.

Cole has dedicated his autobiography to his grandchildren, andit starts with glimpses of his own childhood home and of hisschooldays. He writes with affectionate respect for his father, acoal miner turned Congregationalist minister, whose liberalChristianity remains the basis for Owen Cole’s own lifelongvalues. He recalls incidents from his service as a conscientiousobjector, as a school teacher, and as a teacher trainer.

He tells, for example, how it was seeing the death of a blackbirdthat he had shot with an air rifle, and – on film – the effects ofAustralian soldiers setting fire to a Japanese bunker, that set himon the path to conscientious objection. Thus, when he was calledto register for National Service he joined the Friends AmbulanceUnit, and proceeded to serve with American Mennonites inGermany, before serving in the Bradford Royal Infirmary and thenhelping Hungarians in Hednesford.

As regards religious education Cole Sahib records changingtimes and also changes in his own attitude – notably to the legalrequirement for collective worship in English schools (p. 133)which must still, in accordance with the 1988 Education ReformAct, be ‘mainly Christian’. As a pupil in the 1940s and as a newlyqualified teacher in the 1950s he totally accepted the dailypractice in state schools of ‘collective worship’, a daily act ofwhole-school Christian worship. But by about 1970 thisacceptance had turned into outright opposition.

This shift in his thinking was part and parcel of his ownreflective multifaith journey, in which his engagement in Leeds

with people from a range of faith communities was seminal. Heilluminatingly relates initiatives and issues among Black, Sikh,Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish communities there, including hisinvolvement in the Yorkshire Committee for CommunityRelations. Here he met a local Sikh, Piara Singh Sambhi, whobecame his co-author and ‘brother’. This partnership was in manyways a model for good practice in developing inter-faithunderstanding, and it is perhaps seen at its best in the book whichthey co-authored on Sikhism and Christianity: A Comparative Study(Macmillan 1993). The multifaith strand of Cole’s journey tookhim to Israel as well as to India and Pakistan – three chaptersrecall an array of experiences of the sub-continent.

Many of his acute observations merit reflection. For instance,he points out that Christians can be affirming of Muslims andJews, while being disparaging about Mormons and Jehovah’sWitnesses, and so on. It is somehow easier to relate to peopleof a straightforwardly different faith than to engage acceptinglywith people whose faith community may be more closely relatedto one’s own and regarded as unorthodox by one’s owncommunity.

Clearly the ‘spiritual journey’ strand in Cole Sahib’s life isinseparable from the other two. What comes across strikingly isthe unswerving faithfulness to his background and to his guidinginsights that is expressed over and over again in meetingcreatively the challenges of changing circumstances. He remainsa ‘Bradford nonconformist’ (p. 33) whether embracingAnglicanism or Quakerism, while respecting and nurturing thecultures and consciences of all.

In Cole Sahib readers of Faith Initiative may find many resonanceswith their own journeys, as well as stimulus for discussion. Cole’sdelight in his ongoing discoveries is an encouragement to hisreaders to look for opportunities for encounter and dialogue andto follow them through, and his writing is amply seasoned byhumour. Fittingly, and in keeping with his finding of compassionand mercy in Islam (p. 192), he concludes with a Sufi story of thetraveller, recoiling in fear as he sees someone advancing towardshim in the desert. As he draws nearer, the traveller realises thatthe man is a friend, until they are nearer still and, recognising thathe is his brother, he runs forward to embrace him.

by Owen Cole, Brighton, Sussex Academic Press, 2009,204pp., £16.95 (paperback), ISBN: 9781845 193362.

Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit,Institute of Education, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

eleanor.nesbitt@warwick.ac.uk© 2010, Eleanor Nesbitt

Cole Sahib:The Story of a Multifaith Journey

48

Religious Symbolism •Suzanne Rees Glanister

As an artist, and a Nichiren Buddhist, I have becomeinterested in the religious symbol known as the halo ornimbus that, for hundreds of years, has surrounded the

heads of great and holy people in paintings and sculptures acrossa range of religious traditions.

Dictionaries tell us that the word halo comes from the Greekword for the ‘circular threshing floor’ and is subsequently used todescribe the circle or disc of light surrounding the sun or themoon. In art this disc or circle has been adopted to depict theholiness and greatness of individuals – it is a symbol of the lightthat emanates from them.

Conventionally it has been drawn round the head of Christ orsaints in the Christian tradition, and Gurus, Buddhas andBodhisattvas in other religious traditions, even stretching back todepictions of ancient Egyptian deities. Artists have created avariety of ways of presenting this symbol – some halos appear tobe merely a hoop of light, while others are more solid inappearance, often, but not always, gold and some have raysemanating from their centre.

The artist, by painting or carving a halo behind the head of afigure, seeks to draw the viewer’s eye, ensuring that he or she isaware that this is a person of special standing, one to be revered.By using a golden halo, the artist is inferring that the figure is holyor even Godlike.

A clearer understanding of how artists have conveyed thisimportant message can be gained from viewing some of thesculptures and paintings created over hundreds of years, thosefeatured here date from 4th Century CE.

Fig 1. Is a Standing Buddha from the Late Northern Weidynasty (386 - 534), the nimbus is carved from the same piece ofstone as the Buddha. This is a typical statue of the Wei dynasty....the large open eyes, gentle smile and the tiered lower hems anddrapery.

Fig 2. We see a Standing Buddha with head nimbus, from theNorthern Qi dynasty in China 550 -577 CE. The Buddha’s head issurrounded by two layers of lotus petals in relief, which in turnare surrounded by an engraved pattern of painted motifs.

Five circles, no doubt representing the light emanating from thehalo, are arranged at regular intervals around the pattern. SeatedBuddhas are carved in high relief around the edge of the nimbus.

Fig 3. Depicts a triad from the same period as the Buddhaflanked by two Bodhisattvas. Each of the three heads is framedby a halo consisting of lotus petals in relief inside circles. TheBuddha is also surrounded by an oval body halo, divided intobands of different colours.

In the Christian tradition, halos abound. In this typicalcomposition (fig 4), we see a Romantic depiction of Christ witha halo that really is more in keeping with the oval body nimbuswe saw in the last picture of the Buddha. Christ seems to bewalking out of a huge ‘splash’ of light.

In Giotto’s famous Nativity (1304-06) (fig 5), we note that thebaby Jesus has a halo which has the cross inscribed on it...life anddeath in one symbol. Mary, as the mother of Jesus, has a halo sohas Joseph and the messengers or angels - neither the midwifenor the shepherds, as more earthly beings, are honoured in thisway.

Fig 6. In this Giotto painting of an Angel flying with somespeed out of what looks like the cosmic sky, he/she has awonderful golden halo, which would seem to denote the highlyrevered significance of these divine messengers, especially whenthey are heralding an event of religious importance.

Fig. 7 The first painting from the Sikh tradition is of GuruNanak, and it comes from 19th century Punjab. Here Guru Nanakseems to be meditating and has a finely drawn halo round hishead. As you can see, the Guru's robe is inscribed with calligraphy.The front is in Arabic characters, in naskh script, with verses fromthe Qur'an, and the sleeves and part of the hem of the robe areinscribed with the Guru's own great composition, the Japji. Thepainter has taken the holiest of words from different faiths andwrapped the great Guru's noble figure in them.

The second Sikh painting is of Guru Nanak with the other nineGurus and was painted in the Punjab in 1882 (fig 8). Here thefigure of Guru Nanak is placed at the very centre of thepainting. He has a fiery golden halo round his head, and three ofthe ten gurus can be seen to be endowed with halos as well.

Fig 9. Shows the figure of Guru Har Rai, the seventh Guru.Here we have a Guru who was known for his withdrawn andcontemplative character. The Guru is quietly walking in a simpleknee-length cloak of fine muslin. He has very little jewellery on hisperson. A simple turban covers his head, which is surrounded bya finely drawn halo. The Guru is being shielded from the sun bya parasol, which shows his exalted status. The sun itself appearsas a halo, with its fiery prongs radiating out from the roundmiddle disc - here we can see the close relationship between thesun and the halo, both as circles of light.

Fig 10. In this portrait of Shah Jahan by Payag Mughal 1628, thegolden nimbus encircling Shah Jahan's head is the imperial glorymentioned in the 10th century portraits of the Mughal emperors.When Ranjit Singh became ruler of the former Mughal provinceof Punjab, his artists followed the conventions of this painting,depicting him on horseback, dominating the composition, andwith a halo.

Holiness and theHalo

Suzanne Rees Glanister • Religious Symbolism

49

Halo

Figure 7 Guru Nanak dressed ininscribed robe Watercolour on machinemade paper from Goswamy, B.N andCaron Smith I see no Stranger; Early SikhArt and Devotion (New York: RubinMuseum of Art 2006 p. 102-3)

Figure 9 Guru Har Rai, the seventhGuru Leaf from a series of portraitsof the Gurus Goswamy and SmithStranger p. 145

Figure 10 Equestrian Portrait of ShahJahan, Mughal 1630. Gouache andgold on paper. Photo © 1980 TheMetropolitan Museum of Art fromStronge, Susan (ed) The Arts of theSikh Kingdoms (London, V&APublications 1999 p. 64)

Figure 6 Giotto di Bondone's "Flight into Egypt",c.1303/10, Scovegni Chapel in Padua (detail).http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl

Figure 5 Giotto The Nativity 1304-1306http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Nativity%20by%20Giotto.jpg

Figure 1 Standing Buddha from Nickel Returnof the Buddha p. 102-3

Figure 2, Standing Buddha with Head Nimbusfrom Nickel, Lukas (ed) Return of the Buddha:the Qingzhou Discoveries (London: RoyalAcademy of Arts 2002 p. 126-7)

Figure 8 Guru Nanak with Nine other Gurus Watercolour on machine madepaper from Goswamy and Smith Stranger p.121

Figure 3 Triad with Mandorlafrom Nickel Return of the Buddhap. 66-7

Figure 4 Jesus the Good Shepherdpainter unknown

50

Take a risk a day, feel the fear and do it has become a family motto and I wouldsuggest that risk, fear and doing are more fundamental to my designing andmaking of vestments for the Anglican Church than any personal journey of faith.

It was a risk I took when I presented myself with the challenge of creating designs forvestments which would respond to and enhance the nature of contemporary worship inan ever-changing, rapidly developing, multicultural world. I sensed a need for reform, forlooking forward and, as my work gradually developed, I found a need to exclude allreference to conventional, exclusive, limit-bound images already present in stained glass, onthe altar and in other ecclesiastical artefacts – doves, flames, crowns of thorns, grapes, fishetcetera. I identified a need for more free, open-ended designs aimed at promoting aquestioning attitude in the viewer and thereby the possibility of a more liberalinterpretation of conceptual, theological issues such as ‘spirit’ ‘growth’ ‘salvation’ ‘suffering’‘light’ and by implication ‘dark’.

The fear then came in having to present a mode of thinking which would stretch andpush at the boundaries of centuries-old convention in order to release a fresh visionfounded on new and maybe previously unidentified relationships. My work was to becomea new form of textual space in which anyone either with faith in God or none couldengage.

The risk and the fear did not, however, end with the decision to go forward. They arerevivified each time I enter into a new project and face up to the doing. This entailsentering into a tripartite dialogue between the commissioner, the designer-maker and theitem itself as it grows from the whisper of an idea, through the designing process, into astitched textile and finally into the formal presentation to the person or site. As an ideaevolves from its beginnings as, say, a line from a poem or prayer, a phrase from a piece ofmusic or The Bible itself, it can only gather impetus and strength if it is influenced by thetwo other participants (commissioner and designer-maker) in the conversation as theyengage with it at every stage.

Chasing a chimeraSearching for meaning in

contemporary ecclesiastical textile

Detail: Altar Front

Of course, the key role of the designer in the process cannot be denied. Itis for that person to draw on all resources available in philosophy, theology,fine art and aesthetics to coax into being an image which, through its carefulcombination of essential design elements (line, form, colour, texture) andproperties (balance, harmony, contrast, proportion, rhythm), results in thecreation of a work true to its original inspiration.

A completed work will not succeed, however, if it does not engage a fourthparty – the viewer – in a new dialogue in the absence most certainly of theartist and quite probably of the commissioner. None of these people is, in thewords of theologian George Pattison: ‘like the smart company chairman whoknows how to use the agenda to determine the outcome of the meeting’.i

Fear, risk and doing are again present here and crucial to any search forpotential meaning. Fear is that which stops the viewer from asking their ownquestions because of a reluctance to challenge seemingly immutable tradition.Recognising such fear is key to any advancement in interpretation. Then comesthe risk in the form of ‘daring to do’, that is to say in the daring to engage withthe work in its ecclesiastical context and draw personal conclusions as topotential meaning and significance.

Viewers with a desire to learn must become as creative as the artist, gentlyyielding to interpretation, articulating all manner of stray and fleetingimpressions, both privately and publicly and in the language of everydayexperience.

Hints are present in the context of the sacred space and liturgical drama inwhich the work is set, be it an altar frontal, a hanging or a vestment. Hints arethere perhaps in an enigmatic title; or in the movement of the design itself; inthe use of colour which is by no means arbitrary; in the quality, ever-changingsheen, sway and flow of the fabric as it responds to the movement of thewearer. They are there in the way in which all of these are in often enigmaticand inexhaustible correspondence with the setting and its quality of light.

Given time, patience and a submission to guessing, to the ebb and flow ofdialogue sometimes with the self alone but essentially with other people too,ideas should begin to surface, however humble the beginnings and howeverunprescriptive and opaque the design work under scrutiny may be perceivedto be. To start out in this way on a journey of exploration into meaning maybe to chase answers, but may equally be like chasing a chimera. Any sense ofcomprehension must surely, in the end, come from challenging the fear andtaking the risk of daring to submit to the perpetuity of questions aboutmeaning in sacred art in a largely secular world.

© Judith Peacock

i Pattison, George. The End of Theology and the

Task of Thinking About God London, SCM Press 1998:113

Detail: Altar Frontal

Altar Frontal Lancaster Priory

Vestment

Lectern Frontal

The AnswerNot the darkness but twilightin which even the bestof minds must make its waynow. And slowly the questionsoccur, vague but formidablefor all that. We pass our handsover their surface like blind men, feeling for the mechanismthat will swing them aside. Theyyield, but only to reform as new problems; and onedoes not even do thatBut towers immovable before us.

Is there no wayother than thought of answering its challenge? There is an anticipationof it to the point ofdying. There have been timeswhen, after long on my kneesin a cold chancel, a stone has rolledfrom my mind, and I have lookedin and seen the old questions liefolded and in a placeby themselves, like the piledgraveclothes of love’s risen body.

© R.S.Thomas